MUMBAI:
Bollywood superstar Salman Khan today created a storm by describing Yakub Memon, the Mumbai blasts convict scheduled to be hanged on July 30, as innocent but was forced to withdraw his tweets and tender unconditional apology following outrage from political parties and social media.
Basking in the glory of his film Bajrangi Bhaijaan’s success, the 49-year-old actor posted about a dozen tweets from about 2 am early today in which he said the wrong man is being hung for the crimes of his brother Tiger Memon who was described by the actor as a ‘lomdi'(fox) who ran away.
“Get tiger(Tiger Memon), hang him. Parade him not his brother,” the actor had tweeted. Tiger Memon, who is believed to be in Pakistan, is one of the prime suspects in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts that killed 257 people and injured 1,400.
Khan said he had been wanting to tweet about the issue for some days but was afraid.
“Been wanting to tweet Tis fr 3 days n was afraid to do so but it involves a man’s n family. Don’t hang brother hang tha lomdi (fox) who ran away,” he tweeted.
“1 innocent man killed is killing the humanity,” the actor said.
As his tweets sparked a furore and were dubbed as “objectionable” and also led to protests by BJP workers outside Khan’s residence in suburban Bandra, BJP and ally Shiv Sena demanded cancellation of the actor’s bail in the 2002 hit-and-run case. A Shiv Sena spokesperson Manisha Kayande even called Khan anti-national.
Ujjwal Nikam, the special prosecutor in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case, took a strong exception to Khan’s tweets in defence of Yakub, and said the actor must withdraw them. (AGENCIES)
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