Bangkok- Human Rights Activist Purushottam Dahal has emphatically stated that people should not be given the death penalty. He expressed this view during a special program organized by Sahitya Man Thailand on the occasion of the 67th World Human Rights Day-2025. This event was the sixth installment of the organization’s regular program, ‘Aadarshya Divya Darpan’ (Ideal Divine Mirror).
As the Chief Guest, Dahal stressed that the right to life is natural and that no one is allowed to kill a person or impose the death penalty. “Humans have the right to live; no one is allowed to kill a person. No one should be given the death penalty,” he asserted, adding, “However, local laws in many places have still not abolished the death penalty. In some countries, it has been abolished.” He maintained that if a person is convicted as a criminal, other legal avenues for punishment can be adopted, and insisted that laws enforcing the death penalty must be removed from all countries.
In his extensive address on human rights, Dahal further clarified that the right to disagree is an intrinsic part of human rights. He stated, “Where one is not allowed to speak against the government, where one is not allowed to express disagreement, where one is not allowed to express oneself freely, human rights are not considered to exist anywhere there.”
Another guest at the program, Chaitanya Krishna, discussed the conduct expected from one human to another globally, but also urged that humans must pay special attention to and be concerned about the protection of other animals. “We call humans the supreme sentient beings. That is why I have spoken most about animal rights so far, more than human rights,” he explained. “Because the voice of the voiceless is the most fruitful voice. We can speak, and I believe we must speak the voice of those who cannot speak.” Similarly, Prakash Chandra Aryal, another guest who participated from Myanmar, stated that the ultimate goal of human rights should be the liberation of one’s own life.
The program was presided over by the President of Sahitya Man Thailand, Omprakash Neupane, and was efficiently conducted by the Secretary, Dipa Rana.
