Headlines
Salman being targeted for his celebrity status: Father
Mumbai, Aug 1
Days after Bollywood superstar
Salman Khan got into a controversy by opposing the death penalty for
1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon, his father, veteran
writer Salim Khan, dismissing his son's tweets as "childish and
meaningless", said he was being targeted for his celebrity status which
gives accusers more publicity.
Salim says his son was not the only person who had held such a position.
"These
things have been said by many people. Salman was not the only one.
Probably his way of putting it was little childish and meaningless.
First person to condemn it was me. Lots of people like Naseeruddin Shah,
Shatrughan Sinha, (Justice) Markandey Katju have said the same thing,"
Salim told news channel India Today.
"You get more publicity when you attach Salman because he is a big star," he added.
Salman,
49, who is out on bail after being sentenced to five years in jail in
the 2002 hit-and-run case in May, tweeted on July 25 that Yakub, who was
hanged in Nagpur jail on Thursday, should not be punished for his
brother Tiger Memon's crime.
The reaction to the tweets led
authorities to deploy around 50 policemen outside his residence in
Galaxy Apartment in Bandra in fear of possible violence and even set up
barricades.
However, Salman, the very next day (July 26)
apologised for what all he said. The “Bajrangi Bhaijaan†posted on
Twitter that his father wanted him to retract his tweets "as they have
the potential to create misunderstanding". And he promptly deleted the
earlier tweets.
Asked whether Salman is being targeted because of
being an Indian Muslim, Salim said: "The people here who have come up
with the agitation and blocked the road... personally I felt that these
are the people, probably lots of them are against (Prime Minister
Narendra) Modiji. He (Modi) is totally aware of all these things that he
comes to know.â€
Yakub Memon was involved in the deadly 1993
blasts that left 257 people dead and over 700 injured in what was then
the world's worst urban terror attack.
He is the brother of one
of the main accused, Tiger, who along with others is absconding. Indian
officials believe he and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim are in Pakistan.