The Supreme Court yesterday upheld the death penalty on Ajmal Amir Qasab, one of the 10 men responsible for the horrific killing of 169 persons in Mumbai on November 26, 2008. He will be hanged to death.

The debate over the death penalty has always been vehement on both sides — that is, those who are in favour of retribution, especially for crimes that involve multiple murders, horrific crimes on humanity such as the one executed by Qasab and the nine other terrorists, child homicide, etc, versus those who feel that killing someone in response to killing is lowering the state to the level of the killer.