[Admin:Dinesh]
The sentence
1993 Mumbai blast convict Yakub
Memon is likely to be hanged on 30
July. The Supreme Court dismissed his
last legal appeal
The blasts killed 257 and injured 713.
100 other people were convicted, but
Memon is the only one to be given the
death penalty
The conspiracy
The blast conspiracy was hatched after
the 1992 Mumbai riots. ISI called a
meeting of dons like Dawood Ibrahim,
Mohammad Dosa, Tiger Memon and
Tahir Merchant
Yakub Memon claims he wasn't present
in any of the meetings
*******************
The return
Yakub also claims he returned to clear
his name and for the sake of his family
But CBI arrested him and charged him
as the prime accused in the blast case
Tiger Memon warned his brother against
returning. But Yakub claimed he had full
faith in India and its judiciary.
In 1999, Yakub had written a letter the
Chief Justice of India in which he called
himself "a good citizen of the country"
When his death sentence was
announced, Yakub broke down and
reportedly told the judge, "Even the
innocent will be made into terrorists".
Special TADA judge Pramod Kode, who
sentenced Yakub to death, described
him as a "very educated man". Yakub
apparently cried out in court seeking
the "Lord's forgiveness" for Kode
because he "did not know what he had
done".
Yakub Memon will turn 53 on 30 July.
He is also likely to be hanged on the
same day at 7 am in Nagpur Central
Jail, after spending 20 years in jail.
On 21 July, the Supreme Court dismissed
his last legal attempt to absolve himself in
the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case.
Yakub was convicted under the Terrorist
and Disruptive Activities (TADA) Act in
2007 for his alleged role in the serial blasts
that killed 257 people, injured 713 and
destroyed property worth Rs 27 crore.
Whether capital punishment itself is
justified or not is a separate matter. The
moot issue here is whether Yakub Memon
deserved a death sentence. He was
convicted along with 100 other people in a
10,000 page chargesheet. But he was the
only one to be condemned to death. Why?
***************
Background
On 12 March 1993, Mumbai was shattered
by ten consecutive bomb blasts, the first
one being at 1.28 pm. This attack was
supposedly a consequence of the 1992
Bombay riots in which mobs led by the Shiv
Sena went on a rampage, strategically
killing Muslims, with the police acting as
their accomplice.
One of the victims of the riots was Tiger
Memon, a smuggler of growing influence
who had started trading with clients from
the Gulf. His office was allegedly burnt by
angry mobs during the riots.
There was widespread anger and despair
following the riots. Ever ready to fish in
troubled waters, Pakistan's Inter Services
Intelligence (ISI) smelled an opportunity.
This is how the plan for the Mumbai blasts
was hatched. ISI called a meeting of
Dawood Ibrahim (who was residing in Dubai
then), Mohammad Dosa, Tiger Memon,
Tahir Merchant and various other Indian
Muslim dons based in Europe and the Gulf.
The conspiracy
After several meetings, the responsibility of
the attack was given to Tiger Memon and
Mohammad Dosa, while Dawood agreed to
provide logistical support.
Tiger Memon selected a few youths, who
were then sent to Pakistan for training by
the ISI. A number of meetings were
subsequently held at Hotel Persian Darbar
in Panvel on 6 January, 10 February and 1
March, to discuss various aspects of the
plan - from how the bombs would land to
the bribing of customs officials. There was
a meeting at Taj Mahal Hotel on 4 March
for making final preparations.
According to the prosecution itself, Yakub
Memon, Tiger's brother, was not present in
any of these crucial meetings.
*************
Who is Yakub Memon?
Yakub, the third of six children, was born in
Mumbai and completed his bachelor's in
1983 and master's in commerce in 1985. In
1986, he enrolled as a student with the
Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.
After completing one of the toughest
courses in India, he became a chartered
accountant and started a firm called Mehta
and Memon associates, along with his
school friend Chaitanya Mehta.
In July 1999, having spent several years in
custody, Yakub wrote a letter to the Chief
Justice of India, trying to explain his
predicament and seeking relief from
"unbearable punishment".
He told the judge he and his friend "were
doing very well". They were handling sales
tax and income tax accounts of around 200
files. He gave these details, he said, to
drive home the point that he was busy with
his life and had no time to plot an
international conspiracy.
Even during his two decade long stint in
jail, he completed two masters degrees
from an open university - one in English
literature and the other in political science.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)
alleges that Yakub managed Rs 21.90 lakhs
for the operation, arranged air tickets and
boarding for 15 people to be sent to
Pakistan for training, purchased vehicles to
be planted as bombs and requested a
person who is now a discharged co-
accused, to store boxes of ammunition
smuggled into India by Tiger Memon.
He was convicted based on the confession
of around six people - Asgar Yusuf
Mukadam, Ismail Turk, Musa Biyariwala,
Mustaq Sayed and Mulchand Shah.
Later, apart from Shah, everyone withdrew
their statements.
The chargesheet named 189 people, 44 of
them were absconding while the other 145
people had 'confessed' to the police. There
have been allegations of the police eliciting
confessions through brutality, during the
Mumbai blast investigations.
Yakub Memon's conviction
was based on the confession
of six people, five of whom
later withdrew their statements
The controversial movie Black Friday,
based on the book of the same name by S
Hussain Zaidi, documents the open secret
of police torture during investigations in a
vivid way. The movie's release was stalled
for many years by the court.
Memon's return
According to official records, CBI arrested
Yakub Memon at the New Delhi Railway
Station on 5 August,1994. The agency says
that it acted on a tip off that a terrorist has
sneaked into Delhi and would be coming to
a railway station.
The other story goes that he was arrested
at Kathmandu airport, while trying to go to
Karachi. He was carrying multiple passports
and had just met his lawyer regarding a
possible surrender to the CBI.
Yakub consistently claims that he
surrendered voluntarily before the CBI on
28 July 1994.
"I gathered my strength and returned to
India on 28 July 1994. The same day I
surrendered to the authorities," said Yakub.
The court judgment took no cognisance of
Yakub' statement but was extremely critical
of the CBI arrest story.
Film star Sanjay Dutt, presently serving a
jail term for keeping the ammunition used
during the blast, was also arrested after he
was lured back from Mauritius and
promised protection. However, around 100
cops greeted him at the Mumbai airport.
In his book, Zaidi observed that Yakub
wanted to return in order to clear his
name. He was also concerned about the
failing health of his parents and the
impending birth of his child.
Perhaps he thought it was better to strike a
deal with the Indian government rather than
stay under Pakistan's watch.
The result
In his letter to the Chief Justice in 1999,
Yakub had stated that "it was a difficult
and risky adventure" for him to return with
a suitcase full of evidence against
gangsters in Pakistan. He called himself a
"good citizen of this country" who had tried
to help the government in "whatever small
manner he could". His "humble effort and
sacrifice", he said, would be known after
the Bombay blasts case came to its
"logical end".
Yakub apparently cried out in
court for god to forgive Judge
Kode "as he knew not what he
had done"
He also stated that in his lifetime he had
never been to New Delhi railway station. He
denied his role and claimed that all those
who interrogated him know the truth.
According to him, his only fault was that he
was Tiger Memon's brother. "The more I
think, the more I get disturbed," Yakub
wrote to the judge, "after all, why am I
made to suffer? Only for the sole reason
that the prime accused is in relation to
me?"
Yakub also took a dig at the prosecution
and said that their case was built on the
following narrative: "Muslim Memon family
exploded bombs in Mumbai and then fled to
Pakistan. Later, with great efforts, the
'prime accused' was arrested".
In his letter he also wrote that he had great
faith in his country and its judiciary. It was
because of Yakub's statements that it
became easy for investigative agencies to
point towards Pakistan's involvement.
According to Yakub, his brother Tiger
Memon had warned him against returning
to India. "Tum Gandhiwadi ban ke ja rahe
ho, lekin wahan atankwadi qarar diye jaoge
(You want to become a Gandhian but they
will brand you a terrorist) ," he had said.
Ironically, it seems Tiger Memon, the main
conspirator behind the Mumbai blasts, has
been vindicated.
When Special TADA judge Pramod
Dattaraya Kode had pronounced the death
sentence, Yakub had apparently cried out in
court for god to forgive Kode "as he knew
not what he had done."
On 30 July, when Yakub is hung to death
on a conviction reportedly based primarily
on confessions extracted in police custody,
he will leave behind many uncomfortable
questions.
[Admin:Dinesh]
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