Does the right to live include the right to die? Are the two rights opposed or does the latter follow from the former? These questions have been debated down the ages not just by men of law and religion but also by poets and philosophers. Those who have spoken out against the religious and social stigma attached to suicides have argued on the basis of a simple premise - since man has no right so indisputable as that over his own person and life, he can very well use this right to put an end to himself. This is to perceive death as a part of living - its climax, perhaps - rather than as its exact opposite, which is how the judges of the Supreme Court had chosen to view it. While discussing Article 21 of Constitution that guarantees the right to live, they had concluded in 1996 that this right does not include the right to die. So Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code had stayed in place, making suicide a crime, with the survivor liable to be punished with a year in prison, a fine, or both. The Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre has decided to do away with this section now - a move that will hopefully make way for the removal of other, similarly antiquated laws. The role of the law as a possible deterrent to suicide attempts has always been questionable, since a person who has so overcome his mortal fears as to welcome death cannot possibly be scared at the simpler prospect of going to jail. The ineffectiveness of the law was further proved by figures released by the National Crime Records Bureau and the World Health Organization - with 35.5 deaths per 100,000 people in the 15-29 age group, India has the highest rate of suicides among the youth.

A probable reason behind this astounding number is the lack of mental health, an area in which India is lacking grievously, with only one psychiatrist for every 343,000 people. The repealing of Section 309 would not have much practical impact unless it is followed up with measures to improve mental hygiene. That include training professionals to deal with various kinds of psychiatric ailments, changing social attitudes towards mental illnesses through counselling of patients and their families, providing help to care-givers, and alleviating poverty, which is a potent reason behind most suicides. Shakespeare's Hamlet had argued that, considering the nature of the world - with the 'oppressor's wrong', 'the law's delay' - death would be preferable to life. If the world can be changed a bit, there would perhaps be more people choosing it over self-annihilation.