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| A Last-Minute Effort Against Yakub Memon’s Execution in India for Mumbai Bombings | |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| NEW DELHI — Yakub Memon is an unlikely cause célèbre for death penalty opponents in India. | |
| India’s Supreme Court has called him “the driving spirit” behind a series of bombings in Mumbai that killed 257 people in 1993. Prosecutors portrayed Mr. Memon as the bomb plot’s indispensable middleman, the one who arranged financing, made travel plans, stockpiled weapons and bought vehicles for car bombs. | India’s Supreme Court has called him “the driving spirit” behind a series of bombings in Mumbai that killed 257 people in 1993. Prosecutors portrayed Mr. Memon as the bomb plot’s indispensable middleman, the one who arranged financing, made travel plans, stockpiled weapons and bought vehicles for car bombs. |
| And yet with Mr. Memon’s hour of execution fast approaching — he is scheduled to be hanged at 7 a.m. on Thursday — India’s news media has been stirred by a surprisingly robust debate over whether Mr. Memon, a Muslim in this predominantly Hindu nation, deserves to die. | And yet with Mr. Memon’s hour of execution fast approaching — he is scheduled to be hanged at 7 a.m. on Thursday — India’s news media has been stirred by a surprisingly robust debate over whether Mr. Memon, a Muslim in this predominantly Hindu nation, deserves to die. |
| That debate continued early Thursday — just hours before the execution was to take place — as the Supreme Court convened well after midnight to hear one last appeal. India’s president had already rejected Mr. Memon’s final plea for mercy. By late Wednesday night, several hundred people opposed to his execution had gathered for a candlelight vigil at Jantar Mantar, a giant sundial that is this city’s preferred rallying point for public protest. | |
| The debate is being fueled by last-minute questions about Mr. Memon’s supposed cooperation with investigators, by concerns about the treatment of Muslim defendants in India’s courts and by the uncontested fact that the actual masterminds of the bombings remain at large. | The debate is being fueled by last-minute questions about Mr. Memon’s supposed cooperation with investigators, by concerns about the treatment of Muslim defendants in India’s courts and by the uncontested fact that the actual masterminds of the bombings remain at large. |
| This week, as Mr. Memon’s execution began to appear more likely, Muslim leaders and some legal experts argued with increasing vehemence that India’s death penalty is applied more aggressively against Muslims and other minority groups. | This week, as Mr. Memon’s execution began to appear more likely, Muslim leaders and some legal experts argued with increasing vehemence that India’s death penalty is applied more aggressively against Muslims and other minority groups. |
| “Yes, Yakub was involved, but he did not deserve capital punishment,” Asaduddin Owaisi, a Muslim member of India’s Parliament, told reporters here on Wednesday. He cited cases of non-Muslim defendants convicted of heinous crimes who have avoided execution. If Mr. Memon is executed, he insisted, they should be, too. | “Yes, Yakub was involved, but he did not deserve capital punishment,” Asaduddin Owaisi, a Muslim member of India’s Parliament, told reporters here on Wednesday. He cited cases of non-Muslim defendants convicted of heinous crimes who have avoided execution. If Mr. Memon is executed, he insisted, they should be, too. |
| The debate even embroiled Salman Khan, one of India’s biggest movie stars, who on Sunday posted a series of Twitter posts that seemed to imply that Mr. Memon was being hanged for the crimes of his older brother, Ibrahim Memon, known as Tiger, who prosecutors say is one of the masterminds still at large. | The debate even embroiled Salman Khan, one of India’s biggest movie stars, who on Sunday posted a series of Twitter posts that seemed to imply that Mr. Memon was being hanged for the crimes of his older brother, Ibrahim Memon, known as Tiger, who prosecutors say is one of the masterminds still at large. |
| “Brother is being hanged for Tiger,” Mr. Khan wrote, only to retract his posts hours later after facing heavy criticism, including from his father. | “Brother is being hanged for Tiger,” Mr. Khan wrote, only to retract his posts hours later after facing heavy criticism, including from his father. |
| “I haven’t said or implied that Yakub is innocent,” Mr. Khan wrote in a clarification Twitter post. “I have complete faith in the judicial system.” | “I haven’t said or implied that Yakub is innocent,” Mr. Khan wrote in a clarification Twitter post. “I have complete faith in the judicial system.” |
| But perhaps the oddest twist came in the form of an article by a former senior intelligence official for India who said he played a key role in bringing Mr. Memon back to India in 1994 to face trial. | But perhaps the oddest twist came in the form of an article by a former senior intelligence official for India who said he played a key role in bringing Mr. Memon back to India in 1994 to face trial. |
| The retired intelligence official, B. Raman, had been a regular columnist for an Indian website, Rediff, until his death in 2013. According to the website, Mr. Raman wrote a column about Mr. Memon in 2007, but then had second thoughts and asked that it not be published because he did not want to undermine other convictions in the bombing case. | The retired intelligence official, B. Raman, had been a regular columnist for an Indian website, Rediff, until his death in 2013. According to the website, Mr. Raman wrote a column about Mr. Memon in 2007, but then had second thoughts and asked that it not be published because he did not want to undermine other convictions in the bombing case. |
| The website went ahead and published the column last week. In it, Mr. Raman wrote that there was “not an iota of doubt” about Mr. Memon’s guilt and that under “normal circumstances” he would deserve to hang. But, he added, Mr. Memon had cooperated extensively with investigators. His willingness to provide details about the plot, and to persuade other members of his family to cooperate, was “a strong mitigating circumstance,” Mr. Raman wrote. | The website went ahead and published the column last week. In it, Mr. Raman wrote that there was “not an iota of doubt” about Mr. Memon’s guilt and that under “normal circumstances” he would deserve to hang. But, he added, Mr. Memon had cooperated extensively with investigators. His willingness to provide details about the plot, and to persuade other members of his family to cooperate, was “a strong mitigating circumstance,” Mr. Raman wrote. |
| “There is a strong case for having second thoughts about the suitability of the death penalty.” | “There is a strong case for having second thoughts about the suitability of the death penalty.” |
| The extent of Mr. Memon’s cooperation is very much in dispute. P.D. Kode, the judge who tried and sentenced Mr. Memon, told The Times of India that the “theory of Yakub’s surrender was never established” and that “Yakub never gave any details of the surrender or details of any deal that was offered to him.” | The extent of Mr. Memon’s cooperation is very much in dispute. P.D. Kode, the judge who tried and sentenced Mr. Memon, told The Times of India that the “theory of Yakub’s surrender was never established” and that “Yakub never gave any details of the surrender or details of any deal that was offered to him.” |
| In the meantime, the execution is set to take place amid tightened security, especially in cities with large Muslim populations. Extra checkpoints are being set up on some roads. Government ministers are consulting with senior police and military officials. The security measures reflect official concern that Mr. Memon’s execution could serve as a flash point for religious strife and score-settling — the same dynamic present in the Mumbai bombings. | In the meantime, the execution is set to take place amid tightened security, especially in cities with large Muslim populations. Extra checkpoints are being set up on some roads. Government ministers are consulting with senior police and military officials. The security measures reflect official concern that Mr. Memon’s execution could serve as a flash point for religious strife and score-settling — the same dynamic present in the Mumbai bombings. |
| On March 12, 1993, over the span of several hours, a dozen bombs exploded one after another at different locations around Mumbai, including the Bombay Stock Exchange, a movie theater, an Air India building, several hotels and two crowded markets. In addition to the dead, more than 700 people were injured. | On March 12, 1993, over the span of several hours, a dozen bombs exploded one after another at different locations around Mumbai, including the Bombay Stock Exchange, a movie theater, an Air India building, several hotels and two crowded markets. In addition to the dead, more than 700 people were injured. |
| Prosecutors have said the bombings were intended to avenge the destruction of a 16th-century Muslim holy site, the Babri Mosque, which was torn down in December 1992 by a mob of militant Hindu nationalists intent on building a temple in its place. The mosque’s destruction touched off riots across India that left more than 1,000 people dead, most of them Muslims. | Prosecutors have said the bombings were intended to avenge the destruction of a 16th-century Muslim holy site, the Babri Mosque, which was torn down in December 1992 by a mob of militant Hindu nationalists intent on building a temple in its place. The mosque’s destruction touched off riots across India that left more than 1,000 people dead, most of them Muslims. |
| On Wednesday night, security officials said they were determined to prevent crowds from gathering outside the Central Prison in Nagpur, the city in central India where the execution is set to take place. | On Wednesday night, security officials said they were determined to prevent crowds from gathering outside the Central Prison in Nagpur, the city in central India where the execution is set to take place. |
| As is the norm in India, journalists will not be allowed to witness the execution. Under prison procedures, the condemned is typically offered a bath, a final meal and a chance to pray before going to the gallows. | As is the norm in India, journalists will not be allowed to witness the execution. Under prison procedures, the condemned is typically offered a bath, a final meal and a chance to pray before going to the gallows. |
| Although death sentences are routinely imposed in India, actual executions are rare. Mr. Memon would be only the fourth person executed in India since 2000. If the execution goes forward as scheduled, it will occur on Mr. Memon’s 53rd birthday. | Although death sentences are routinely imposed in India, actual executions are rare. Mr. Memon would be only the fourth person executed in India since 2000. If the execution goes forward as scheduled, it will occur on Mr. Memon’s 53rd birthday. |