Yakub Memon's hanging
I felt a deep sense of dismay after reading this article ("Yakub Memon: When compassion failed and baying for blood prevailed"). At the outset, the writer claims that Memon had decided to return to India and help the authorities. But in reality, he did so because there was no other way out for him, not out of a sense of duty.
And she goes on to paint a glowing picture of Yakub Memon as a man who came back home full of hope and with faith in his country's judiciary. If that were true, why did he leave the country in the first place and take shelter in Pakistan?
The writer says that the death penalty spells revenge and not justice. In that case, what would have been the appropriate punishment for someone like Ajmal Kasab? Some of our best minds have stood up against the death penalty for Yakub, the writer adds. Our best minds, not our best hearts. And these best minds haven't lost any near and dear ones in the blasts, I assume. ‒ Sridhar Adivi
***
Your article brought me to tears. Because of people like you, humanity is still alive. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. ‒ Imran Ashfaque
***
If the writer thinks Yakub was so saintly, then why did he not blow the lid on the sinister plans masterminded by him and his brother that led to the deaths of several innocent citizens who had nothing to do with exacting revenge.
Why did Tiger Memon, Chhota Shakeel and Dawood not surrender if the writer felt that murderers like Yakub deserved a second chance? The hanging is neither about the state taking revenge on behalf of hundreds of grieving families nor is it about paying homage to the dead. It is about sending a message to twisted minds. ‒ Swaraj
***
Well-written piece on Yakub Memon's hanging. We have indeed become a country that thirsts for revenge more than justice, lacks compassion, mistakes jingoism for nationalism and does not see the realities of poverty-stricken India. Our misdirected passions are inflamed by a government that is becoming increasingly rightist. ‒ Sanjoy Sankar Guha
***
The writer is making a cheap attempt to seek fame by offering a different perspective. ‒ Anjali Singh
***
The Supreme Court has followed the required procedures and Yakub had a hand in the blasts. The writer of this piece seems intent on spreading hatred. ‒ Nishant Kale
***
The person has been convicted of his crimes. Case closed. You have compared it with the Bilkis Bano case ‒ those convicts should be hanged as well. We are demanding that Yakub Memon be hanged because he willingly acted against our nation, not because he belongs to a particular religion.
Had you lost your family members or friends in the 1993 bomb blasts, would you still preach mercy for a traitor? ‒ Anil Koul
***
Humanity is above all. I fully support the decision to hang Yakub Memon because he is a criminal. He should pay for what he did. Of course he is not innocent. While he planned the blasts, did he ever think of the innocent people who would lose their lives. If he could not show mercy to innocent people, why should we have mercy for him? ‒ Shilpa Nayak
This article is based on extremely poor logic and lack of substantial proof ("The message is clear: The BJP is against terrorists only if those terrorists are Muslim"). Thank god it's an opinion piece or it would have been hailed as an example of terrible journalism. I'm not a supporter of the BJP, but after reading his other articles, it's clear that the author is anti-BJP. The parallels drawn with pardons for other crimes are not appropriate.
If a non-Muslim terrorist commits an act of terrorism in the future and is caught but no hanged, I will personally apologise to the writer. Today, however, the article was extremely difficly to read because, as terrible and corrupt as our government is, we live in a secular nation. And while there is discrimination between religions in many areas, punishment (unlike many other nations I might add) is not delivered based on this religious bias.
Let's take the example of Ajmal Kasab. The writer agrees it was an open-and-shut case. Yet we put up with his demands for so long. It highlighted the laid-back justice system. While we live in a democratic nation with freedom of speech, we should hail this freedom with cautious deference, for we might be making some gravely undeserved allegations. ‒ Vrinda Prahladka
***
It's not the BJP but the Indian judiciary which sentenced Yakub Memon to death. Though Hindus are a majority in India, Muslims are treated with respect. Do not mix religion with politics or with major decisions of the government and judiciary. ‒ jwalapurams on email
***
You make it sound as though the BJP is personally interested in hanging only Yakub Memon. You failed to point out that the same BJP government has requested the Supreme Court to award the death penalty to Rajiv Gandhi's killers.
Did the BJP government sentence Yakub Memon to death? No, it's the court which awarded the death penalty after a 20-year trial. Do you expect the BJP government not to execute the apex court decision and let a terrorist live for the sake of appeasement politics? ‒ Janak Rajoria
***
There are so many infuriating points in your article. Firstly, you ignore the ten terrorists spared the noose, focusing on the one terrorist ‒ the financier, without whom the blasts would not have happened ‒ who was hanged.
There is no mention of Yakub Memon being a convicted terrorist who was treated more humanely than he deserved. When you conclude that the BJP is against Muslim terrorists only, your logic and overly intellectual pseudo-secular bias is obvious to everyone. By the way, how is a Supreme Court decision a BJP decision? ‒ Radha Shenoy
***
This article was superbly written, with nice examples and conclusion. My only question is how confident are you that by singling out a religion, you will not hurt someone's sentiments. Don't you think you breeding insecurity?
I expect some sensible journalism. Don't bring religion into everything. The day is not far when the next World War will be based on religion. The media should not offer further encouragement. ‒ Abhinav
In the judiciary we trust
Jyoti Punwani's rambling piece misses essential points ("The many wrong messages that hanging Yakub Memon would send"). Memon has been found guilty of an offence based on admissable evidence presented in the court. Indian evidence laws are very stringent. At this stage, we have no reason to doubt the findings of the legal process.
While in Karachi, Memon may have felt, or been advised, that his actions of only helping in the execution of the bomb blasts were not sufficiently serious offences to attract maximum punishment. And some low-level Indian intelligence operative, for his own claim to glory, may well have promised him some sort of plea bargain, but he obviously lacked the requisite authority to do so. This may have kindled hope in Yakub.
We may well argue for speedier justice, but overall, Memon has been allowed every procedure and process available. There have been no shortcuts, kangaroo court style. I am saddened at Yakub going to the gallows. Wish it could have been otherwise but do not want to draw wrong lessons. ‒ Jai Oberoi
***
The decision to hang Yakub Memon will discourage people from surrendering. ‒ Nomani Yasir
***
For the death penalty to be given, the Supreme Court must have found some merit in the charges against Yakub Memon. ‒ Amit Darekar
***
The word mercy does not exist in the law book, so how can it be interpreted by the judiciary? That is why we are merciless no matter which creed we belong to. ‒ aanshaikh on email
***
A big question should be whether it's right to have capital punishment in a civilised society (or the civilised society that we aspire to be), even for people found guilty of committing heinous crimes. ‒ Shazia Haseeb Khan
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I felt a deep sense of dismay after reading this article ("Yakub Memon: When compassion failed and baying for blood prevailed"). At the outset, the writer claims that Memon had decided to return to India and help the authorities. But in reality, he did so because there was no other way out for him, not out of a sense of duty.
And she goes on to paint a glowing picture of Yakub Memon as a man who came back home full of hope and with faith in his country's judiciary. If that were true, why did he leave the country in the first place and take shelter in Pakistan?
The writer says that the death penalty spells revenge and not justice. In that case, what would have been the appropriate punishment for someone like Ajmal Kasab? Some of our best minds have stood up against the death penalty for Yakub, the writer adds. Our best minds, not our best hearts. And these best minds haven't lost any near and dear ones in the blasts, I assume. ‒ Sridhar Adivi
***
Your article brought me to tears. Because of people like you, humanity is still alive. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. ‒ Imran Ashfaque
***
If the writer thinks Yakub was so saintly, then why did he not blow the lid on the sinister plans masterminded by him and his brother that led to the deaths of several innocent citizens who had nothing to do with exacting revenge.
Why did Tiger Memon, Chhota Shakeel and Dawood not surrender if the writer felt that murderers like Yakub deserved a second chance? The hanging is neither about the state taking revenge on behalf of hundreds of grieving families nor is it about paying homage to the dead. It is about sending a message to twisted minds. ‒ Swaraj
***
Well-written piece on Yakub Memon's hanging. We have indeed become a country that thirsts for revenge more than justice, lacks compassion, mistakes jingoism for nationalism and does not see the realities of poverty-stricken India. Our misdirected passions are inflamed by a government that is becoming increasingly rightist. ‒ Sanjoy Sankar Guha
***
The writer is making a cheap attempt to seek fame by offering a different perspective. ‒ Anjali Singh
***
The Supreme Court has followed the required procedures and Yakub had a hand in the blasts. The writer of this piece seems intent on spreading hatred. ‒ Nishant Kale
***
The person has been convicted of his crimes. Case closed. You have compared it with the Bilkis Bano case ‒ those convicts should be hanged as well. We are demanding that Yakub Memon be hanged because he willingly acted against our nation, not because he belongs to a particular religion.
Had you lost your family members or friends in the 1993 bomb blasts, would you still preach mercy for a traitor? ‒ Anil Koul
***
Humanity is above all. I fully support the decision to hang Yakub Memon because he is a criminal. He should pay for what he did. Of course he is not innocent. While he planned the blasts, did he ever think of the innocent people who would lose their lives. If he could not show mercy to innocent people, why should we have mercy for him? ‒ Shilpa Nayak
Steer clear of religious bias
This article is based on extremely poor logic and lack of substantial proof ("The message is clear: The BJP is against terrorists only if those terrorists are Muslim"). Thank god it's an opinion piece or it would have been hailed as an example of terrible journalism. I'm not a supporter of the BJP, but after reading his other articles, it's clear that the author is anti-BJP. The parallels drawn with pardons for other crimes are not appropriate.
If a non-Muslim terrorist commits an act of terrorism in the future and is caught but no hanged, I will personally apologise to the writer. Today, however, the article was extremely difficly to read because, as terrible and corrupt as our government is, we live in a secular nation. And while there is discrimination between religions in many areas, punishment (unlike many other nations I might add) is not delivered based on this religious bias.
Let's take the example of Ajmal Kasab. The writer agrees it was an open-and-shut case. Yet we put up with his demands for so long. It highlighted the laid-back justice system. While we live in a democratic nation with freedom of speech, we should hail this freedom with cautious deference, for we might be making some gravely undeserved allegations. ‒ Vrinda Prahladka
***
It's not the BJP but the Indian judiciary which sentenced Yakub Memon to death. Though Hindus are a majority in India, Muslims are treated with respect. Do not mix religion with politics or with major decisions of the government and judiciary. ‒ jwalapurams on email
***
You make it sound as though the BJP is personally interested in hanging only Yakub Memon. You failed to point out that the same BJP government has requested the Supreme Court to award the death penalty to Rajiv Gandhi's killers.
Did the BJP government sentence Yakub Memon to death? No, it's the court which awarded the death penalty after a 20-year trial. Do you expect the BJP government not to execute the apex court decision and let a terrorist live for the sake of appeasement politics? ‒ Janak Rajoria
***
There are so many infuriating points in your article. Firstly, you ignore the ten terrorists spared the noose, focusing on the one terrorist ‒ the financier, without whom the blasts would not have happened ‒ who was hanged.
There is no mention of Yakub Memon being a convicted terrorist who was treated more humanely than he deserved. When you conclude that the BJP is against Muslim terrorists only, your logic and overly intellectual pseudo-secular bias is obvious to everyone. By the way, how is a Supreme Court decision a BJP decision? ‒ Radha Shenoy
***
This article was superbly written, with nice examples and conclusion. My only question is how confident are you that by singling out a religion, you will not hurt someone's sentiments. Don't you think you breeding insecurity?
I expect some sensible journalism. Don't bring religion into everything. The day is not far when the next World War will be based on religion. The media should not offer further encouragement. ‒ Abhinav
In the judiciary we trust
Jyoti Punwani's rambling piece misses essential points ("The many wrong messages that hanging Yakub Memon would send"). Memon has been found guilty of an offence based on admissable evidence presented in the court. Indian evidence laws are very stringent. At this stage, we have no reason to doubt the findings of the legal process.
While in Karachi, Memon may have felt, or been advised, that his actions of only helping in the execution of the bomb blasts were not sufficiently serious offences to attract maximum punishment. And some low-level Indian intelligence operative, for his own claim to glory, may well have promised him some sort of plea bargain, but he obviously lacked the requisite authority to do so. This may have kindled hope in Yakub.
We may well argue for speedier justice, but overall, Memon has been allowed every procedure and process available. There have been no shortcuts, kangaroo court style. I am saddened at Yakub going to the gallows. Wish it could have been otherwise but do not want to draw wrong lessons. ‒ Jai Oberoi
***
The decision to hang Yakub Memon will discourage people from surrendering. ‒ Nomani Yasir
***
For the death penalty to be given, the Supreme Court must have found some merit in the charges against Yakub Memon. ‒ Amit Darekar
***
The word mercy does not exist in the law book, so how can it be interpreted by the judiciary? That is why we are merciless no matter which creed we belong to. ‒ aanshaikh on email
***
A big question should be whether it's right to have capital punishment in a civilised society (or the civilised society that we aspire to be), even for people found guilty of committing heinous crimes. ‒ Shazia Haseeb Khan