Decision to decriminalise IPC Section 309 on Human Rights Day: A perfect occasion

The Indian government on Wednesday decriminalised the attempt to suicide and scrapped Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The move was welcomed at various quarters that termed it to be anachronistic. [Decriminalising attempt to suicide: How it came about]

The move is indeed a positive one for it has a human thinking behind it. Those intending to commit suicide are considered to be in a negative state of mind and extending the hand of sympathy instead of imposing legal punishment is certainly a desired way of tackling such people.

The decision to scrap the IPC provision also came on the Human Rights Day, marking a kind of happy coincidence. In 1950, the UN General Assembly proclaimed December 10 as the Human Rights Day to bring to the attention of the world the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the common standard of achievement for all people.

The decision on Section 309 has not only recognised people's human rights by helping them overcome their agony that forces them towards suicide but it also boosts those who fight for a cause against the state power and adopt means like hunger strike to achieve their aims.

This is a victory for democracy and nothing could have been better than the fact that this victory has taken shape on the occasion of the Human Rights Day.