Bollywood actor Salman Khan has come out in defence of death row convict in the 1993 Mumbai blast case Yakub Memon, saying the wrong man is being hung for the crimes of his brother Tiger Memon.
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Terming Yakub Memon as innocent, Salman said killing him would be killing humanity. “Parade him not his brother”, Salman wrote in one of his tweets. Khan said he had been wanting to tweet about the issue for some days but was afraid. “Don’t hang brother hang tha lomdi (fox) who ran away”, Salman tweeted.
Salman Khan also expressed his anger on the investigative agencies who failed to nab Tiger Memon and even appealed the Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to deport Tiger if he stays there. “Sharif Saab ek darkhaust hai k agar yeh aap k mulkh mein hai toh plz iktila kar deejiyeh”. He said that the special TADA (Terrorists and Disruptive Activities (Prevention)) court, which ordered him death warrant in 2007, did so before he could exhaust all his legal options.
Yakub’s family members and advocates decided to move a fresh mercy petition before the Maharashtra governor Vidyasagar Rao.
A chartered accountant, Memon, 53, has filed his second review petition before the Supreme Court which is expected to be heard on July 21, but the state government is making all preparations for the hanging with the warrant issued earlier this week.
The Bombay Stock Exchange the offices of Air India and a luxury hotel were among the targets of the March 1993 blasts which killed 257 people in India’s commercial capital. The home department took the view that the fresh mercy petition is not legally tenable as such, and it should be dismissed and that Yakub should be hanged on July 30 as scheduled.
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The actor was later trolled on Twitter for his defensive statement. Brother is being hanged for Tiger.
