Owaisi on Memon Death Penalty – Communal or Opportunistic?

Yakub Memon, convicted in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts case, was given death penalty by the Supreme Court, after rejecting the final mercy plea in a series of pleas, his execution has been set for 7am on July 30. A petition seeking an immediate stay on the death sentence is scheduled to be heard in the Supreme Court on Monday.
Yakub, brother of Tiger Memon, a fugitive and one of the prime suspects in the bombings, was convicted by Special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities court in early 2007, guilty of criminal conspiracy, abetting and facilitating in a terrorist act, providing financial assistance to the terrorists and disbursement of arms.
The decision to hang Yakub has been deemed discriminatory by Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) Chief Asaduddin Owaisi, accusing the Centre of indulging in religious discrimination and demanded to know why Yakub has been given capital punishment. Is it because of his being a Muslim?

Owaisi raised questions over why death sentences of those guilty of assassinating former PM Rajiv Gandhi and former Punjab CM have been converted into life imprisonments, stating that it is because of the political backing these criminals have. But who is backing Yakub Memon?

Santhan, Murugan and Perarivalan, the assassins of Rajiv Gandhi, were considered for a remission, with their death sentence being converted into life imprisonment citing the delay in disposing their mercy petitions, making their execution “harsh” and “excessive.” Owaisi alleged that two key political parties are involved in seeking a remission from capital punishment for Rajiv Gandhi’s assassins, and are now are vying for the release of the convicts.

In Punjab, where the ruling Shromani Akali Dal had managed to take the President’s consent to the mercy plea of Balwant Singh Rajoana, convicted in murdering Punjab CM Beant Singh, with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal himself calling on the then President Pratibha Patil  to hand over the plea. By registering his protest on the decision to hang Yakub, Owaisi has made a plausible argument against the political manoeuvring of death sentences, exemplified through the actions of Political Parties in Punjab and Tamil Nadu.

A dangerous precedent has been set by Sikh Nationalism Politics in Punjab and competitive Lankan Tamil Politics in Tamil Nadu resulting in assembly resolutions second guessing the Courts on Death Penalty. It is this kind of political brinkmanship by the Akalis and the Dravidian parties that is being cynically exploited by the MIM to question Yakub Memon’s Hanging.