New Delhi: “The need of the hour is to see that each of us 'WE' must think himself/herself to be a member of one family i.e. India. We must learn to tolerate and love each other as a family member, keeping with our tradition we should love all nations and become citizens of this global village — one great family.”
This is an excerpt from an essay written by 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memom who is likely to be hanged to death on July 30.
Memon expressed these views on the topic 'Constitution of India reflects unity in diversity' in an essay contest that was held for the prisoners of Central Jail by the Indira Gandhi Open University (IGNOU) on November 26 2013, the very year his death verdict was upheld by supreme court of India. Interestingly, his views are in sharp contrast with what he is being convicted of.
He goes on to write, "In spite of a great Constitution, greed and corruption are posing a threat to unity and India's reputation as a civilized nation. People of India need moral and spiritual cleansing to see that we do not succumb to the evil of greed and corruption."
Yakub wrote these words in a neat cursive hand, showing his good command over English. The essay, however, does not reveal the state of his mind. It could have received a prize had it not exceeded the prescribed word limit of 600, although it received an 'A' grade.
Yakub's family has been claiming that it was his faith in the judiciary that made him surrender. His essay too eulogizes the secular characteristic of the state, he specifically mentions how the constitutions does way with e British policy of communal representation, "reducing the wide gap between the people of India created by the British policy of divide and rule".
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