Yakub memon biography of william

A travesty of justice

William Shakespeare had famously said, all the world’s a stage and all the men and women are merely players, playing many parts according to the script. And so did the well-educated Yakub Memon, the younger brother of 1993 Mumbai serial blasts mastermind Ibrahim Tiger Memon, who was executed by the Indian authorities on July 30, the very day he turned 53.
From a successful chartered accountant, who allegedly financed a deadly terror scheme in collaboration with anti-India actors based abroad, to becoming an Indian intelligence asset-cum-approver who helped track the footprint of the underworld fugitives holed up in foreign shore, Yakub had indeed been a multifaceted performer in one life.
Some believe the vengeance of the Almighty was his nemesis, symbolized by the date of birth coinciding with the hanging date. Ironically, the Salatul Janaza (the funeral prayer) of ex-Indian President Abdul Kalam being performed with that of Yakub’s on the same date, though at different locations, also brought to the fore the typical “good Muslim versus bad Muslim” narrative.
As usual, comparisons were drawn between Kalam’s distinguished life and Yakub’s felony to underscore the fact that crime never pays and that India, under the muscular leadership of Narendra Modi, will mercilessly crush every head that rises against the country.
But nobody, apart from a few at the government level, was aware that Kalam’s funeral was deliberately withheld to minimize the possible backlash of Yakub’s hanging.
“Kalam’s and Yakub’s last rites falling on the same day provides a cushion to the government amid accusations of the Indian legal system being unfair to Muslims,” confessed a top government source who also confirmed that the security apparatus was extremely concerned by the angry outbursts triggered by the denial of Yakub’s mercy plea.
With the whole of India remaining glued to the funeral of a president they admired madly, little did the

As the Supreme Court convened in New Delhi at 3am on Wednesday to hear 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon's last minute plea for mercy before rejecting it, authorities at Nagpur Central Jail, where he was hanged at 7am, allowed him his last wish — a phone call to his 21-year-old daughter, Zubeida.
The jail staff dialled Zubeida's number and handed the phone to him. Sources present said Yakub broke down on hearing his daughter's voice. Zubeida too couldn't hold back her tears. Both remained silent for a few moments before Yakub regained enough composure to talk.
READ ALSO: Yakub Memon wrote another, undelivered, mercy plea on the eve of his hanging
“I wanted to see you getting married and settling down happily, but now I won't be there to see that moment. I am sorry. I haven't done anything which will bring shame to our family. I was never involved in anything. Take care of your mother,“ Yakub managed to say before hanging up for the last time.
He, however, managed to leave a will, which sources said mentions Zubeida alone. It is not known if this will was handed over to his brother Suleiman or given to the police. Yakub also bid farewell to his fellow convicts and apologized to them for any indiscretion on his part. According to the police, he was heard telling them that he has no hope now. "Ab toh Allah hi malik hai," he said. A part of his last hours were spent recollecting the time when he lived in Mahim with his family, and how he landed in trouble because of his brother Mushtaq 'Tiger' Memon. "Allah usey kabhi maaf nahi karega. Kaash ki woh mera bhai na hota," he said.

Yakub Memon's daughter Zubeida (second from left) and wife Raheen at nagpur station on July 23, 2015. (Mumbai Mirror photo by Satish Malavade)
Sources in the state government said Yakub had stopped eating properly in the last two days. Since he is schizophrenic, not even a glas

MUMBAI: It was a Black Friday for the Memons, India's first family of terror.
Special Tada court judge P D Kode sentenced three Memons to life imprisonment and gave Yakub Memon — the most educated among them — the death penalty for conspiring to cause the March 12, 1993 serial blasts which ripped Mumbai apart on a Friday, leaving 257 people dead and over 700 injured.
The judge made it clear that he was not passing the harsh order because of the "close relationship" these Memons shared with the absconding mastermind, Tiger Memon, but because there was evidence against them individually for their acts.
On hearing his death sentence — the 12th handed down in this case by the court — the 45-year-old Yakub exclaimed loudly, "Oh Lord, forgive him for he knows not what he does."
He was quoting from the Bible, not the Koran. He was the last of the Memons to be read out his sentence but he must have known it was coming - before him his two brothers Yusuf (34), who suffers from schizophrenia, and Essa (33), diagnosed with a brain tumour, were given the lighter life imprisonment on health grounds.
As he was being led away by police escorts even before his sentence was read out completely, he told TOI, "I forgive him (the judge). I forgive him." His brothers flanked him and led him away.
The Memon family was the first to be declared guilty in the case last year on September 12 when the judgments started to be handed down. Of the eight who stood trial, four were held guilty and three acquitted.