activists make choices. they should face the consequences of their choices. we are not talking about victimless crimes.
age is not a criterion. varavara rao, 81, shouldn't be pardoned on the basis of his age. nor should youth be an issue. if involved in particularly heinous crimes, juveniles are tried as adults (this is the convention in most of the world).
sarabha, of the gadar party, was tried, convicted of sedition, and hanged, along with another uc berkeley student, vishnu ganesh pingale.
khudi ram bose was hanged also at age 18 or 19 by brits, convicted of sedition.
even bhagat singh was hanged at the age of 23.
not drawing a moral equivalence between the imperial brit state and the republic of india. (nor am i saying that disha ravi should be hanged.)
however, the state does have a monopoly on violence, and it will do whatever it takes to protect its integrity. this is true of ALL states, throughout history. it cannot be otherwise. soft states do not survive for long.
even the sainted and much lionized ashoka had his informants keeping an eye on the public. and i bet those who were caught were not treated with tenderness.
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