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Will this man hang for his brother’s sins? - Mumbai Mirror
By Hussain Zaidi
The Supreme Court's rejection of his curative petition leaves 1993 blasts convict Yakub Memon with virtually no hope.
Dressed in an impeccably ironed shirt and neat trousers, Yakub Memon was beaming. His eyes were filled with hope when I met him in June 1996 in the specially designated TADA court in Mumbai. In contrast, the 100 odd accused in the 1993 serial blasts case were glum. How ironic and tragic then that the situation has now been reversed -- while the other accused are likely to escape the gallows, Yakub Memon now faces the death row. His last hope - a curative petition - was rejected by the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
We kept meeting whenever I visited the TADA court. His hope and optimism remained undiminished. "Zaidi sir, let me come out of here, I will give you the complete story," he had promised me when I told him I was researching the 1993 attacks for a book and also reporting the trial.
It was this unfailing faith in the Indian judiciary and is own fate that had spurred Yakub to return to India against his brother and the main 1993 blasts accused Tiger Memon's advice. If Yakub had the faintest clue as to what would happen to him, he wouldn't have feigned to drop the numerous passports he was carrying at the Tribhovan International Airport in Nepal in July 1994. If he knew the Indian security agency would use all the evidence he brought from Pakistan and then dump him, he would have flown directly to Dubai instead of taking a detour via Nepal and deliberately attracting the attention of the security at the Nepal airport.
He was travelling as Yusuf Ahmad, a Pakistani. If he wished, he could have gotten away. But he lost no time in confessing that he was Yakub Memon, an absconder in the serial blasts. After his interrogation, Yakub was handed over to the Indian government, who claimed that he was caught at the New Delhi railway station. He claims he has never visited the Delhi railway station in his entire life.
Yakub was optimistic because he knew he was innocent. His only crime was that he Tiger's brother. His optimism stemmed from the fact that he had amassed and collected vast amount of material on the blasts, including on his own brother. He had damning evidence against ISI agent Taufiq Jaliawala and several other Pakistani officials. Risking his and his family's lives, Yaqub had videographed Jaliawala's bungalow, despite the place being under constant ISI surveillance.
Yakub was so confident he would be able to prove his innocence, he did not take into account the political ramifications of his return. The country was baying for the Memons' blood. If it was not Tiger, Yakub would do just fine.
In his enthusiasm, Yakub summoned his entire family (except Ayub and Tiger Memon), including his parents and his wife, who came with an infant, from Dubai as he was confident that the government would show leniency.
First the Indian government flaunted him like a prized catch and put him on primetime to cock a snook at Pakistan. Yakub didn't need any encouragement as he spoke about Pakistan without holding back any information. When Yakub had fought with his brother and declared that he wanted to return to India, Tiger had warned him: "You are going as Gandhi, but you will be hanged as Godse."
And so now Yakub Memon will hang for the sins of his brother. For the sins of a country across the border. Will there be a reprieve? Few think there is hope.
Yakub can either personally approach for a revised mercy plea to the President or may be make another appeal on the grounds that he is mentally unstable.
Yakub's lawyers feel that his hanging is nothing but a political stunt. "His death warrant was sent on April 30 and we were told only on July 14. Why is the government in such a hurry to hang him? Just to score a brownie point that we have hanged aMemon?" asked advocate Farhana Shah, who represented the Memons.
The government's move only reeks of political bias and vendetta against Memons, she said, adding that "the whole world has abolished death penalty except India. Here, they are only waiting that they will abrogate the capital punishment after Yakub is done away with."
Senior lawyer, Shyam Keshwani, who was has been involved in the case ever since Yakub returned to India in July 1994, said: "If you want to understand why government wants to hang Yakub, just look at the political scene."
At the Al-Hussaini building in Mahim, where the entire Memon clan stayed and where Tiger hatched the 1992 blasts conspiracy, Yakub's wife Rahin and 18-yearold daughter have locked themselves in the fifth-floor apartment.
People in the building said they are in mourning and are not meeting anyone. The rest of the Memon clan, including Yakub's brother Suleman, are camping in Nagpur.
By Hussain Zaidi
The Supreme Court's rejection of his curative petition leaves 1993 blasts convict Yakub Memon with virtually no hope.
Dressed in an impeccably ironed shirt and neat trousers, Yakub Memon was beaming. His eyes were filled with hope when I met him in June 1996 in the specially designated TADA court in Mumbai. In contrast, the 100 odd accused in the 1993 serial blasts case were glum. How ironic and tragic then that the situation has now been reversed -- while the other accused are likely to escape the gallows, Yakub Memon now faces the death row. His last hope - a curative petition - was rejected by the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
We kept meeting whenever I visited the TADA court. His hope and optimism remained undiminished. "Zaidi sir, let me come out of here, I will give you the complete story," he had promised me when I told him I was researching the 1993 attacks for a book and also reporting the trial.
It was this unfailing faith in the Indian judiciary and is own fate that had spurred Yakub to return to India against his brother and the main 1993 blasts accused Tiger Memon's advice. If Yakub had the faintest clue as to what would happen to him, he wouldn't have feigned to drop the numerous passports he was carrying at the Tribhovan International Airport in Nepal in July 1994. If he knew the Indian security agency would use all the evidence he brought from Pakistan and then dump him, he would have flown directly to Dubai instead of taking a detour via Nepal and deliberately attracting the attention of the security at the Nepal airport.
He was travelling as Yusuf Ahmad, a Pakistani. If he wished, he could have gotten away. But he lost no time in confessing that he was Yakub Memon, an absconder in the serial blasts. After his interrogation, Yakub was handed over to the Indian government, who claimed that he was caught at the New Delhi railway station. He claims he has never visited the Delhi railway station in his entire life.
Yakub was optimistic because he knew he was innocent. His only crime was that he Tiger's brother. His optimism stemmed from the fact that he had amassed and collected vast amount of material on the blasts, including on his own brother. He had damning evidence against ISI agent Taufiq Jaliawala and several other Pakistani officials. Risking his and his family's lives, Yaqub had videographed Jaliawala's bungalow, despite the place being under constant ISI surveillance.
Yakub was so confident he would be able to prove his innocence, he did not take into account the political ramifications of his return. The country was baying for the Memons' blood. If it was not Tiger, Yakub would do just fine.
In his enthusiasm, Yakub summoned his entire family (except Ayub and Tiger Memon), including his parents and his wife, who came with an infant, from Dubai as he was confident that the government would show leniency.
First the Indian government flaunted him like a prized catch and put him on primetime to cock a snook at Pakistan. Yakub didn't need any encouragement as he spoke about Pakistan without holding back any information. When Yakub had fought with his brother and declared that he wanted to return to India, Tiger had warned him: "You are going as Gandhi, but you will be hanged as Godse."
And so now Yakub Memon will hang for the sins of his brother. For the sins of a country across the border. Will there be a reprieve? Few think there is hope.
Yakub can either personally approach for a revised mercy plea to the President or may be make another appeal on the grounds that he is mentally unstable.
Yakub's lawyers feel that his hanging is nothing but a political stunt. "His death warrant was sent on April 30 and we were told only on July 14. Why is the government in such a hurry to hang him? Just to score a brownie point that we have hanged aMemon?" asked advocate Farhana Shah, who represented the Memons.
The government's move only reeks of political bias and vendetta against Memons, she said, adding that "the whole world has abolished death penalty except India. Here, they are only waiting that they will abrogate the capital punishment after Yakub is done away with."
Senior lawyer, Shyam Keshwani, who was has been involved in the case ever since Yakub returned to India in July 1994, said: "If you want to understand why government wants to hang Yakub, just look at the political scene."
At the Al-Hussaini building in Mahim, where the entire Memon clan stayed and where Tiger hatched the 1992 blasts conspiracy, Yakub's wife Rahin and 18-yearold daughter have locked themselves in the fifth-floor apartment.
People in the building said they are in mourning and are not meeting anyone. The rest of the Memon clan, including Yakub's brother Suleman, are camping in Nagpur.
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