STATE AS KILLER

Only one day before India's independence day, the state hangs a 40-year-old amid surges of protests across many of its cities.

The convict's crime was heinous, but he had already been in a condemned cell almost for fourteen years awaiting the execution. Under such peculiar circumstances, the convict's family and many human rights' bodies approached the highest judiciary, even the President A.P.J Abdul Kalam for commuting the capital punishment to imprisonment for life.

One had pinned some hope on the President who had, thanks to Indian media,a kind of sage-like image. But he also rejected the appeal. Proving that as a person, he was no different. It's just as naive to expect anything seminal from him.

But the rulers, especially of West Bengal, had a taste of the widespread protests from people who rallied around the jail at late hours of night, braving the police cordon, with placards and festoons, and shouting against hanging. They lit candles till the execution.

Ther's still hope for the mankind.
MRINAL BOSE