What is the Sikh attitude to mercy-killing?
Today there is a lot of pressure on politicians to legalize mercy-killing. In certain countries, mercy killing of patients suffering from incurable diseases or terminal illness has been regulated by law. It is left either to the discretion of the physician or the patient. Several groups including some doctors groups support the right of the individual to die with dignity and their literature contains some instructions for those who desire a painless suicide. The tendency towards the death-wish is fostered by present-day tensions and the conflicts of our competitive society. Mental illness is on the increase, and some people, in a fit of depression, may welcome death as a relief from the torture of living. What is the Sikh view on this important subject of Euthanasia or mercy-killing? Is it right to end a life on account of the pain and agony faced by the patient? Is the physician under a duty to end life, when the terminally ill patient asks for relief in death? The Gurus regarded suff
