Yakub Memon’s execution: SDPI, PFI raise voices for ‘equality’ and ‘justice’

Mangaluru, Aug 1: The Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and Popular Front of India (PFI) have expressed grave concern over the execution of 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon and urged the government and judiciary to uphold equality and justice.

The activists of Dakshina Kannada district unit of SDPI on Friday evening staged a rights assertion protest in front of the office of Deputy Commissioner in the city urging “equality and justice”. The protest comes amidst nationwide uproar against death penalty and inequality.

A press release issued by SDPI stated that the protest was against the double standards of the government administration and judiciary with respect to the alleged crimes committed by Memom and killers of former Indian PM Rajiv Gandhi and former Punjab CM Beant Singh and hundreds of saffron terrorists.

“It should be noted that those scheduled to hang for two other crimes, the assassins of Rajiv Ganghi Beant Singh, have not yet been hanged. Three of Rajiv’s assassins- Santhan, Murugan and Perarivalan- had their death sentences commuted after the Tamil Nadu assembly asked for mercy. Beant’s assassin Balwant Singh Rajaona has proudly acknowledged his guild and has in fact been demanding that he be hanged, but has been kept alive, perhaps also due to the efforts of the Punjab state assembly.”

“But, In case of Yakub Memom, even after the law abiding intellectuals and activists, around 140 persons including retired honourable judges of Supreme Court, Members of Parliament and numerous activists and eminent personalities had requested leniency, he was executed. Entire government, administration and judiciary were involved in the double standard with respect to these cases,” the release stated.

The SDPI also alleged that the double standard was being practiced in imparting justice to the victims of 1992 Mumbai riots with respect to the victims of 1993 bomb blast. Victims of bomb blast got the justice, wherein, the justice to the victims of the Mumbai riots were denied till now and the killers and culprits are roaming free. Justice B N Sri Krishna’s report, submitted in 1998 named hundreds of Hindutva fanatics and Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray as the man who directed the violence in January 1993 phase of the riots.

The commission also had slammed the Mumbai police force being communal and named 31 policemen, including a former additional police commissioner of Mumbai Ram Deo Tyagi. But no legal action or prosecution took place. Over a thousand people died in the riots and more than two thousand people were injured and crores of worth of properties were destroyed. The riots left no area and no class of Muslims untouched. Bal Thackeray who sponsored the 1992 riots was given a state funeral after his death. This double standard will ever be a black mark on the face of this great country, stated SDPI.

SDPI chief’s statement

SDPI national president A. Sayeed in a statement said that putting off Memon’s execution would have be a “fitting tribute to the humane legacy” of former President APJ Abdul Kalam, who had opposed the death penalty. It is a misguided attempt to prevent terrorism, and a disappointing use of the criminal justice system as a tool for retribution, he added.
Sayeed said that India has failed to bring to justice any of the key perpetrators of the 1993 bombings. What it has achieved, though, is to send a message that its great justice system hanged the one who came back and cooperated; that it is unforgiving and that reformation is not guaranteed to any fugitive who may be considering turning himself in.

He said that Yaqub was jailed for so long and thus there was no point in giving him capital punishment after so much delay. Now, the Government of India should focus on next bunch of criminal to expedite their cases. If hanging of Yaqub was necessary, but so it is for all other such cases as well. Selective procedurals being followed is what divides the nation, and leads to rift in the society

Sayeed noted that the petition by Yaqub's lawyers faulted the rejection of mercy petitions by the President and the governor for non-application of mind as the new clemency petitions sought commutation of death penalty to life imprisonment on grounds which were different from the reasons cited by the convict in 2013 while seeking mercy from the President. Moreover, according to rules, the nearest legal centre must be contacted the day mercy plea gets rejected. That did not happen.

PFI chief’s statement

Meanwhile, in a release PFI chief K M Shareef said that the rejection of mercy plea of Yakub Memon by the Supreme Court and the hasty manner of his execution raised serious doubt about the administration of justice in our country.

This is another instance that shows how the communal fascist agenda is manipulating public emotions to create pressure not only on executive but also on judiciary. In the case of Yakub Memon we find how the BJP led government was keen to see him immediately sent to the gallows. The same government never appealed for death penalty for its own leaders prosecuted for killing Muslims in the 2002 Gujarat riots. This clearly proves the double standards and misuse of power to influence the mercy plea, he said.
It is ironical that on the same day of rejecting the mercy petition of Memon, the Supreme Court has upheld the commutation of death penalty of the three convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. The citizens of India are also compelled to view the fate of Yakub Memon as another example of double standards in the administration of justice because the culprits of the notorious Mumbai riots which preceded the serial explosions there are seen still roaming free, he said.

“We would reiterate our stand that in a democracy there is no place for capital punishment. Various studies have proved that capital punishments are mostly used against the backward sections, SC/ST and minorities. The culture of capital punishment to satisfy popular emotions instigated by political motive will only weaken the trust of the religious minorities and backward communities on the judiciary,” he said.

“Death penalty is a form of retribution and violence by the state. It promotes a lynch mob mentality and is not a significant crime deterrent means for the people. There is always a chance that the judicial system might go wrong and the executions by the state as politically motivated with class and communal bias present within the system,” he added.