Salman Khan retracts tweets on Yakub Memon after protests; says
'never said he is innocent' 

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan on Sunday 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 on his twitter page 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. 

I also strongly condemn those who are claiming my tweets are anti religious. I have always said I respect all faiths and I always will.

— Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) July 26, 2015

I would like to unconditionally apologise for any misunderstanding I may have created unintentionally.

— Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) July 26, 2015

My dad called & said I should retract my tweets as they have the potential to create misunderstanding. I here by retract them.

— Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) July 26, 2015

Many lives were lost in the Mumbai blasts. And I have repeatedly said the loss of one innocent life is equal to the loss of all humanity.

— Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) July 26, 2015

I have not said or implied that Yakub Memon is innocent. I have complete faith in the judicial system of our country.

— Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) July 26, 2015

I had tweeted that Tiger Memon should hang for his crimes and I stand by it. What i also said is that Yakub Memon should not hang for him.

— Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) July 26, 2015

The actor had confessed that he has been waiting to express his feelings for quite sometime now, but couldn’t due to the sensitivity of the case. He finally took to Twitter to vent his frustration since it involved a "man’s family". Salman directed his anger at the authorities for failing to catch Tiger Memon and jailing his brother Yakub instead.

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. Nikam said, "Tweets made by Salman Khan are highly objectionable” and were an attempt to “undermine the image of the Indian Judiciary."

TADA Judge P D Kode who sent Yakub to the gallows, said Khan’s tweets are his ‘opinion’ and that everyone has a right to his or her opinion as a right to freedom of speech but the question is how “relevant” it is.