After a day of protests, actor Salman Khan retracted his tweets on Yakub Memon -- the man on death row for the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai.
Late last night, the actor had tweeted saying Yakub should not be hanged and instead, his brother Tiger Memon, the absconding main accused in the case, should be sent to the gallows. The tweets, one of which said, "1 innocent man killed is killing the humanity," were deleted.
The tweets triggered a storm of protests, with flag carrying, slogan shouting members of the local BJP holding a demonstration outside his home. Some of them were detained by the police, who had strengthened security outside the residence of Mr Khan in the afternoon. In the evening, Mr Khan tweeted:
During the day, BJP leader Kirit Somaiya had said he would raise the issue in Parliament. "Salman Khan ne Desh ki Mafi magni chahiye (Salman Khan should apologise to the country)," he had tweeted.
Mr Khan's father, noted screenwriter Salim Khan, had also expressed his disapproval. "He (Salman) should not say anything about these kind of serious topics without any knowledge. Salman is ignorant of the issue and people should not take him seriously," Salim Khan said.
The case has reopened the debate about the death penalty. This afternoon, a group of eminent citizens filed a new mercy petition before President Pranab Mukherjee, asking for a relook at the execution order for Yakub Memon.
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