Practice of Capital Punishment:Miscarriage of Justice for Yakub Memon

Yakub Abdul Razak Memon should be hanged as his brother is the prime accused – so says the apex court of the country. But what are the facts of the case? A person surrenders and gives valuable evidence to the Indian investigation agencies regarding the 1993Bombay blasts. It helped them to have an idea that hands from Pakistan and the D-Company were behind the crimes. In such a situation, does it do justice to Yakub Memon by giving him a death sentence? This, unfortunately, is the situation in India. The state wants to show they have done something towards investigating the bomb blasts by hanging this person.

This man was convicted for his involvement in the 1993 Bombay bombings by the TADA court. He surrendered to the police in Nepal on the 28th of July in 1994 but the then home minister said the CBI arrested him in the New Delhi railway station on the 5th of August in 1994. Investigation agencies claim Memon financially assisted his brother Tiger Memon and Dawood Ibrahim in planning and executing the bombings. When Yakub was surrendering, he had proof of Pakistan's involvement in the blasts. He was uncomfortable in Karachi under the eye of ISI. Contrary to the main accused, he surrendered before the Indian authorities. Moreover, he had faith in the Indian government and the judiciary. His execution will weaken the case against the involvement of Pakistani agencies as there are no other witnesses available. As a pay back, what does the Indian government do?

Some years back he wrote a letter from prison saying he didn't have the time to hate people when he was working. He initiated a Chartered Accountancy firm with a Hindu friend and later started his own firm. When he was doing fairly well, he won the 'Best Chartered Accountant of the Year' award from the Memon community in Mumbai. Most of his family members are NRIs in Dubai. The entire family left for Pakistan after the blast but he and his family didn't lose hope of coming back to India to reclaim their life and public image.

The prosecution considered all the family members under the tag of 'criminal conspiracy'  because they were associated with the prime accused Tiger Memon. The TADA court convicted a total of 100 people and awarded the death penalty to 11 of them. In an appeal to the Supreme Court, the apex court commuted the death sentences of all the convicts except Yakub Memon. Those receiving the acquittals had planted the bombs themselves and played a much more critical and direct role in the actual execution of the bomb blasts. Several of them had even travelled to Pakistan for arms training. This shows Yakub is facing an imminent execution only on account of being Tiger Memon's brother. Following a series of appeals, the Supreme Court of India rejected his final curative petition on 21st July, 2015 and he is now scheduled to be executed by the Maharashtra government tomorrow. It cannot be a fair verdict even if the majority of the people in the country wish for it as there is an increasing hatred for the minorities in India.

Currently, in around 140 countries in the world, there is no death penalty. 103 countries have completely abolished it; six are maintaining only for special circumstances; 50 have made it de facto and only 36 countries actively practice capital punishment. The history of execution of criminals and political opponents by various societies shows it is used selectively, both for punishing crimes and for suppressing political dissent. Many authoritarian states including several fascist regimes used the death penalty as a tool for political oppression. Research shows that the death penalty is being used more often against perpetrators who come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, especially racial and ethnic minorities, than against those criminals who are privileged. In the US, for instance, White Americans are more likely to support the death penalty when told that it is mostly applied to Blacks. The universal declaration of Human Rights adopted by the General Assembly defined certain human rights and fundamental freedoms which need to be protected. The right to life is the most important one among them. Therefore, capital punishment is the worst violation of human rights. It also inflicts to the condemned a psychological torture apart from the physical end to life.

Yakub Memon is not getting what he actually deserves. He has already ruined his life languishing inside the jail for 21 years. He obtained two Master of Arts (MA) degrees by this time from prison. He has suffered enough health issues in this period. He has a record of good code of conduct in prison and no evidence by the prosecution that there existed no possibility of reformation. Capital punishment is an inhuman practice; therefore, it should not be applicable to him.