Actor Salman Khan has joined the Yakub Memon debate with a series of tweets questioning the death penalty for the 1993 Mumbai blasts convict and lambasting Yakub Memon’s brother Tiger Memon.
Posted in the early hours of Sunday, the actor went on to call Yakub as innocent in one of his 14 tweets on the subject. One tweet which drew maximum attention, and criticism, was “1 innocent man killed is killing the humanity”.
1 innocent man killed is killing the humanity
— Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan)
>July 25, 2015According to the actor, it is Tiger Memon who should be hanged and paraded for the blasts instead of Yakub Memon, who, according to Khan, was being punished for his brother’s sins.
Khan did not stop there and even made an appeal to Pakistan to inform about Tiger Memon’s whereabouts. “
The tweets have divided the social media with voices coming both in support of and slamming the actor. Khan’s father and noted scriptwriter Salim Khan was one of those who criticised the tweets, going on to the extent of calling them “meaningless”.
Taking exception to the actor’s remarks, lawyer Ujjwal Nikam who was the Special Public Prosecutor in the 1993 serial blasts case, accused the actor of misusing his popularity to create a negative perception about the court decision. He said that the actor’s tweets amounted to contempt of court and his claims of Yakub Memon being innocent were without any basis.
“If Salman does not retract, he could face legal action,” warned Mr. Nikam.
And even as Khan advised his followers to read about Yakub Memon before making his comment, his father Mr. Salim Khan’s advice for him was to refrain from commenting on subjects he himself doesn’t have an understanding of.
Meanwhile, retired Supreme Court Judge Justice Markandey Katju also took to social media on Sunday to question Yakub Memon's conviction.
“My opinion :Yakub Memon has been convicted on very weak evidence,” he posted on his Facebook page. He also called the decision against Yakub Memon, a “gross travesty of justice”.