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  • 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' Special Screening
    Salman Khan has come out in defence of Yakub Memon, saying his elder brother Tiger Memon should be hanged instead.Varinder Chawla
  • 1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon is scheduled to be hanged on 30 July.IANS

Screenwriter Salim Khan on Sunday criticised his actor son Salman Khan over his comments on 1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon's death sentence saying it must not be taken seriously as he is ignorant about the matter. His remarks came hours after a BJP lawmaker asked the Bollywood superstar to withdraw his tweets defending Yakub Memon.

"Whatever Salman has written is ridiculous and meaningless. Salman is ignorant of the issue and people should not take him seriously," IBNLive quoted the senior Khan as saying.

However, Salim Khan said that Yakub must not be hanged as life imprisonment would be a stricter punishment for him.

"Yakub should be kept in jail rather be hanged. Keeping him alive is a bigger punishment," he said.

Salman Khan had on Saturday posted a series of tweets, saying he wanted to speak on Memon's hanging for a long but was afraid. He said Yakub's elder brother should be hanged instead of him.

Salman, who in his latest release "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" helps a mute girl from Pakistan return home, urges Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in one of his tweets to give the whereabouts of Tiger Memon so that an "innocent" man is not hanged for the deeds committed by his brother (Tiger). Tiger is one of the prime accused in the 1993 serial bombings in Mumbai.

Hours later, Bihar BJP legislator from Nokha (in Rohtas district) Rameshwar Chaurasia asked the actor to withdraw his tweets. Senior lawyer Abha Singh and Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray too criticised Salman for his tweets.

However, senior lawyer Majid Memon said Khan was only expressing his views and he is free to do so.

Khan has posted a couple of tweets for Tiger, asking him to confess that he was behind the blasts not his brother.

Security outside Salman's house in Bandra, Mumbai has been beefed up following his tweets on Yakub.