Opinion Devil’s workshop legalised?

A video recording of her last minutes showed her coming to bed,while Nurse Luley prepared the poisonous potion. The way the little glass exchanged hands,it appeared like Michele was accepting a stimulating shot of Cognac. Perhaps to obliterate pity and help Erika do her job,Michele asked,‘Are you again going to remind me this will be my last drink? Of course,I know it.’ Erika Luley smiled,warmly kissed Michele on both cheeks,Michele reciprocated. “How long will it take?” Michele asked. “Two to five minutes. It will make you sleep,but I’ll give you some chocolate to sweeten your mouth.” Swallowing the fatal drink Michele chortled,“I want another chocolate,this is bitter.” She then chatted with her girlfriend,the official witness of Michele’s suicide act,hugged her goodbye,the nurse too,and closed her eyes. About thirty minutes later,Erika took Michele’s pulse to ascertain her death,called Ludwig Minelli,the Swiss lawyer who founded Dignitas in 1998,and informed the police. As has happened for the over 800 suicide cases that Dignitas had assisted,the police,prosecutor and coroner opened an investigation that concluded with a dismissal.

In early March 2011,the controversial subject of euthanasia made headlines when India’s Law Commission decided to recommend that the Government allow its passive form. This joggled me back to when I first read about it. In my initial career in Paris,I’d sought and got advice from famous Russian artist Maitre Arte. But more than that,I owe to him the big idea of reading a few classics all at the same time,but keeping an economic viewpoint,to develop a wider perspective of the world in different areas. I’d rush to FNAC at rue de Rennes and WH Smith,and will never forget their kindness in allowing me to pour over books for hours in their bookshops. I simultaneously read Karl Marx,Vladimir Lenin,Sigmund Freud,Mao Zedong,Adolf Hitler,Victor Hugo,Bhagavad Gita,Koran and Bible. My biggest learning about life and business came from these nonstop readings. While doing so,I was shocked to find the devil’s workshop of euthanasia was crafted as early as 1924 in Mein Kampf: ‘He who is bodily and mentally not sound and deserving may not perpetuate this misfortune in the bodies of his children. The völkische (people’s) state has to perform the most gigantic rearing-task here. One day,however,it will appear as a deed greater than the most victorious wars of our present bourgeois era.’

In 1939,the German parents of a severely deformed child wrote to Adolf Hitler,seeking his permission to put their child to death. Hitler approved. He then used this as precedent to establish euthanasia,his euphemistic term for systematic killing of the mentally and physically disabled in a clandestine Nazi murder program called Action T4. The Nuremberg Trials after World War II found evidence that up to October 1941,about 275,000 people were killed under T4.

The Greek word euthanasia,meaning ‘painless,happy death,’ raises questions today of the morality of killing,whether a pain-suffering person’s consent is valid,what are the duties of doctors. Euthanasia is a pressing issue because advanced medical technology can sustain and extend life. Active euthanasia means assisting in the direct act of ending life,while passive euthanasia is discontinuing life-sustaining medical treatment for the terminally ill. But can helping people to die be a profession? With the motto,‘To live with dignity,to die with dignity,’ Dignitas charges patients 4,000 euros for preparation and suicide assistance,or 7,000 euros for funerals,medical costs and official fees.

Switzerland’s mountains and lakes conjure up everyone’s dream vacation. At the same time,Switzerland also maintains a kind of hypocrisy. It’s the only country in the world that allows foreigners to come to commit suicide or to launder their ill-gotten money. Somehow staying profitably afloat,by being neutral in the two World Wars,Switzerland became a haven for refugees,revolutionaries and espionage by Allied and Axis powers alike. Everyone banked with the Swiss,including the six million Jews that Hitler exterminated in the Holocaust.

Personally,I believe in the importance of human breath. You may or may not agree,but I don’t believe any person has the right to cold-bloodedly take the life of another,whether in mercy killing or death sentence. Let’s hope India doesn’t take a decision in favour of euthanasia. That’s because,aside from moral,religious or human rights issues,there’s likelihood of it being misused.

Shombit Sengupta is an international creative business strategy consultant to top management. Reach him at http://www.shiningconsulting.com