By Fr Cedric Prakash sj* ‘Execution is a terrorist's tool: Stop the cycle of violence’, screams a powerful poster brought out by the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty ( www.worldcoalition.org ) for the World Day against the Death Penalty , October 10, 2016! The focus this year is on ‘terrorism’ and whether the death penalty is actually a deterrent to an act of terrorism. A handout by the Coalition states that, “Since the 1980’s, there has been a global trend towards abolition of the death penalty which continues to this day. Today two-thirds of countries (140) are now abolitionist in law or in practice. However, despite this global trend towards abolition, many governments have in recent years resorted to use of the death penalty following terrorist attacks on their countries, in the name of protecting their countries and peoples.” India has the dubious distinction of being among those countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nigeria that have adopted laws that expanded the