Why Yakub Memon could be a reformer

First the disclaimer. I'm not a human rights activist. I'm a paid (by my employer) journalist, who believes in doing his job honestly and sincerely and having a life beyond work. I don't believe I can change the world. If we all do our assigned task with honesty, the world will automatically change. So I can contribute towards well being of mankind by doing my job well. That keeps my bosses happy too.

I'm also not a sympathiser of terrorists. I come from Assam and I have experienced what terrorism is. I don't even think terrorism should be handled politically. Terrorism is like cancer and to treat cancer you need chemotherapy which has various side effects. So, all out armed operation is the correct answer to terrorism and certainly it will have collateral damages. No matter how great the cause you are fighting for, killing another human being can never be justified and if you do that, you have to pay back with your own life.

Having said that, I don't think hanging Yakub Memon is a great idea. Shooting down a terrorist during a gun battle or during a combing operation is different thing, but to hang a person after over two decades since he committed the crime is completely different. And Yakub Memon is not just another terrorist. We have already made him a national debate.

The idea of punishment in a civil society is to act as a deterrent. It certainly can't be retribution. Please don't equate it with a gun battle against a terror group where I have advocated bullet for a bullet. But when the state punishes someone with capital punishment, it's not to take revenge, but to deter potential criminals from repeating the same heinous act. It is also believed that the criminal cannot be reformed and, therefore, should be kept away from society. As we have seen, modern terrorists are not afraid of death, so hanging Yakub certainly will not serve the basic purpose of deterrence. Jail is the best place to keep him away from society, but many would argue: "Why to waste taxpayers' money to keep a terrorist alive?"

So what do we gain hanging him? We will perhaps thump our chest in macho-nationalism. Some may say it will be justice served to the victims of Mumbai blast victims. This is ridiculous that we want to serve justice by hanging one of the terrorists after over two decades. Justice is best when served hot. Justice will be to get Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memon back (Oh yes, you can say my IQ matches that of Salman Khan). Have we ever tried to know what the Indian state has done for the families of those who died in the blast? The fact that it took 23 years to decide on Yakub's punishment is itself travesty of justice. If we really cared about the victims, Yakub should have been dead within 23 months, at least. We should have ensured there was no blast since 1993.

What we will certainly gain by hanging Yakub is that it will give some religious fanatics the opportunity to claim that he was hanged because he was a Muslim. Of course, we can't stop punishing people because he belongs to a certain religion. But by hanging him, we may miss out on a much larger opportunity. I have no sympathy for Yakub, he did an unpardonable crime. But he should not be given the opportunity to become a martyr or role model for future terrorists.

I don't know under what circumstances Yakub was arrested. But he did prove that Pakistan was involved and as his sympathisers claim, he surrendered because he was repentant and was tired of living in Pakistan. Even in the only interview, which was given to India Today, he revealed the role of our neighbour behind the blasts. Let's believe in this argument and I would like to propose what people would say ridiculous and naïve.

Let's make him a brand ambassador against terrorism, specially the kind sponsored by Pakistan and by religious fanatics. If some Pakistani handlers could brainwash this chartered accountant to turn a terrorist, why can't our state make him speak about the futility of foreign nation-sponsored terrorism? Inspire him to write books, make him talk to camera about why he felt betrayed by Pakistan, why it is so wrong to kill in the name of religion. Maybe such words could have an impact of those youths across India, who take up guns and swords in the name of seeking revenge against people from different faiths. It may also inspire many Yakubs to come forward and acknowledge their crimes. I accept, I could be too naïve to expect that.

I'm also told that he is now schizophrenic. In that case, hanging him is so un-macho. I repeat, Yakub deserves no mercy, but hanging him, may perhaps go against what India stands for - if I have rightly understood India. It needs strength and greatness to avoid seeking eye for eye, and we love calling ourselves great.

So what should we do to him? I think it's time we innovated new modes of punishment to match newer crimes. But that's another debate.

By the way, Yakub has desperately sought mercy. By showing mercy, perhaps we can thump our chests a bit more. After all, we are Raamzada.