Why hanging Memon and Kasab was the right thing to do?

"Today is a significant day.
Two souls will be buried.
Both Muslims: For one even Hindus will cry; for the other even Muslims would rejoice.
Both involved with weapons/missiles: One made us raise our heads in pride and the other hangs his head in shame.
One had a vision and the other was on a misplaced mission.
Scores of people are lining to pay tributes to one man and scores of people wanted another man to hang.
One was the president and the other waited for justice from President.
Strange are the ways of life!!!"

Read this today morning and although it touched my heart because of the undeniable comparison between Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam and Yakub Memon; but I could not help thinking how many people are against Yakub Memon's hanging all in the name of humanity.

I have not followed Yakub Memon's case very closely in the sense that I have not followed each and every write-space and airtime being given to him. Still at the risk of sounding somewhat like Salman Khan who blatantly proved his ignorance by tweeting senselessly on the issue, I choose to take a stand opposite of Salman.

I have always stood for humanity myself and I'm also aware that so many people I admire, like Dr. Kalam himself who was referenced above, have openly stood against capital punishment. But, I still choose to support capital punishment and death penalty although I feel that it should not be overused and should be saved for rarest of rare cases and crimes that put all humanity to shame. So, with that view, I do support death penalty for Yakub Memon, Ajmal Kasab and the culprits in the 16th December gangrape case.

Memon cried a day before his hanging when he met his brother and cousin. Kasab was unusually quiet and offered prayers. I wonder did they feel this remorse when they did those ghastly crimes against humanity?

The 1993 Bombay bombings were a series of 13 bomb explosions that took place in Mumbai on 12 March, 1993. The coordinated attacks were the most destructive bomb explosions in Indian history. This was first of its kind serial-bomb-blasts across world. The single-day attacks resulted in over 350 fatalities and 1200 injuries. These bombs were assembled in Yakub Memon's house and he himself handled 85 grenades. He might not have been the mastermind of the killings but he was fully aware of the implications and willingly participated in them. Arguments that he turned himself in (which is again debatable) and participated and assisted in the court case seem frugal compared to the loss of lives and the ruining of families of the deceased and injured. These families will never be the same.

Let's also give a thought to the 26/11 Mumbai attack. They were planned and directed by Lashkar-e-Taiba militants inside Pakistan, and carried out by 10 young armed men trained and sent to Mumbai and directed from inside Pakistan via mobile phones and VoIP. At least 164 victims (civilians and security personnel) and nine attackers were killed in the attacks. Among the dead were 28 foreign nationals from 10 countries. The bodies of many of the dead hostages showed signs of torture or disfigurement. A number of those killed were notable figures in business, media, and security services. Ajmal Kasab was the only attacker arrested alive by police. Much of the information about the attackers' preparation, travel, and movements came from his confessions to the Mumbai police. No doubt he was a small pawn in a big game but then the technology is so advanced now that the masterminds are never at the forefront. They are the puppeteers who work in the background. That does not, however, mean that Kasab was blissfully unaware of what he was doing and was in a trance or was hypnotised by someone to kill and maim people on that fateful day. He knowingly did what he did.

The supporters of Memon and Kasab who support mercy for them should explain using any other argument than 'humanity' to argue why they shouldn't have been hanged. For these people killed humanity with their actions and do not deserve the same as an argument for mercy.

And the argument that their mercy petitions were not given 'adequate consideration' is so silly that even SC rejected it by saying that there was no "legal fallacy" in the issuance of death warrant by the TADA court in Mumbai. The apex court had set up the three-judge bench on Tuesday after a two-judge bench had delivered a split verdict on the petition of Memon who had sought a stay of his execution scheduled for July 30. Following the disagreement between justice Dave and justice Joseph on the issue, the matter was referred to Chief Justice of India HL Dattu who constituted a larger bench of justice Misra, justice Prafulla C Pant and justice Amitava Roy to decide the destiny of Memon. The bench also rejected the contention of Memon that all legal remedies were not exhausted, including the issue of clemency, saying that the President had rejected his mercy petition on April 11, 2014 which was communicated to him on May 26, 2014. Let us also not forget that the apex court has gone through all evidences and arguments and then awarded him a death sentence which means that his crime has been established beyond doubt. How much more consideration is expected? And to top it up, the SC convened this bench at 2:00 am at night which is really going out-of-the-way to give him an ear-time.

And a last note that I want to add is that PLEASE LET US NOT MAKE THIS A RELIGIOUS ISSUE. So if Muslims contend that in such and such cases death penalties were not granted to Hindus, I want to make them face the reality that SC had reasons to believe that this person deserved one and they didn't. Also, please be reminded that more Muslims died than Hindus in the Bombay Bomb Blasts and the communal riots that followed. If you want to talk brethren-ship with Memon for being a Muslim, please spare a thought also for those Muslims who died because of Memon.