Yakub hanging row: BJP leader Arshad Alam calls Salman, Yechury ‘deshdrohis’

“Irrespective of any party affiliation, they should be banished from India and should go to Pakistan and Saudi Arabia,” he told reporters here.

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On Sunday, in a series of tweets, Bollywood actor Salman Khan had criticised Memon’s scheduled hanging and described him as innocent. He later withdrew the tweets and tendered an unconditional apology.

Alam said there was no ground for defending a “mass killer”. “The verdict of the Supreme Court should be respected by everyone. Both Hindus and Muslims were killed in the Bombay blasts. It is a sin to look at this (hanging) from Hindu-Muslim point of view. If someone sympathises with Yakub, he should also visit the family members of those who were killed in the blast,” he said.

Asked about BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha’s signing of the mercy petition for Memon, Alam said,” I don’t know what Sinha has said. But I feel that whoever is opposing it is a traitor and is anti-national. It is better that they should go to Pakistan”.

He added that it was “unfortunate that attempts were being made to create an air of sympathy for Memon”.