India's Supreme Court called him "the driving spirit" behind a series of bombings in Mumbai that killed 257 people in 1993. The day Mr. Memon was due to be executed it was 7 a.m., but their great concern was that Mr. Memon was a Muslim in this predominantly Hindu nation and deserved to die. The night before there were several people who opposed his execution. This issue was fueled by last-minute questions about Mr. Memon's alleged cooperation with investigators. Muslim leaders and legal experts have argued with increasing vehemence that the death penalty in India is being applied more aggressively against Muslims and other minority groups. In the article the author quotes a Muslim member of the Indian parliament where he states “Yes, Yakub was involved, but he did not deserve capital punishment”. One of the intelligence officers who played a key role in bringing Memon back to India said that had it been a normal case, Memon would have faced capital punishment, but in his case, Mr. Memon had cooperated extensively with investigators . His willingness to provide details of the plot and persuade other members of his family to cooperate was "a strong mitigating circumstance", as mentioned by the intelligence officer, Mr..