Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray (Photo | PTI)
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray (Photo | PTI)

Yakub-pardon letter of Congress leader surfaces after he becomes minister in Uddhav government

The BJP had raked up the issue of this old letter written by Aslam Shaikh during the recent assembly election.

MUMBAI: A letter written by Aslam Shaikh, Congress MLA from Malwani in Western Mumbai, seeking clemency for 1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon has gone viral on social media a day after he was sworn in as a minister in the Maharashtra Cabinet under Shiv Sena's Uddhav Thackeray.

The BJP had raked up the issue of this old letter written by Sheikh during the recent assembly election. Sheikh blamed the BJP for doing so again. 

"Since the BJP failed to retain power in the state, it was misleading people on various issues," Sheikh said adding that he was one of the leaders from Maharashtra who had sought clemency for Memon in 2015.

Shiv Sena had welcomed the death sentence for Memon and along with Sheikh's letter that went viral today, questions were raised over social media on Sena's changed stance on issues close to heart of Mumbai people.

"Those who construct Nathuram Godse's temple are levelling charges against me (of being soft on terrorism). These are the same people who had assassinated Mahatma Gandhi. They are trying to do what the British could even not do," Sheikh said.

In July 2015, Shaikh wrote a letter to then President Pranab Mukherjee, seeking clemency for Memon.

However, his mercy plea was turned down and Memon was hanged in a Nagpur jail on July 30, 2015.

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