E-Paper
'Display of love': NC leader's take amid row over Yakub Memon's ‘beautified’ grave
Mustafa Kamal’s comments came in the wake of a fresh controversy that has erupted in Maharashtra over the burial place of the 1993 Mumbai blasts convict after the ruling BJP shared pictures of the grave claiming it had been “beautified” and attempts had been made to turn it into a shrine of sorts.
National Conference leader Mustafa Kamal on Thursday said the “beautification” of convicted terrorist Yakub Memon's grave in Mumbai was a “display of love” which can neither weaken religion nor was there anything wrong with it.
Kamal’s comments came in the wake of a fresh controversy that has erupted in Maharashtra over the burial place of the 1993 Mumbai blasts convict after the ruling BJP shared pictures of the grave claiming it had been “beautified” and attempts had been made to turn it into a shrine of sorts.
BJP MLA Ram Kadam, who shared the images on social media, targeted the previous Uddhav Thackeray’s rule over the alleged modification of the tomb at a graveyard in south Mumbai that reportedly has been covered with marble tiles with LED lights surrounding it.
Kadam said, “Grave of terrorist Yakub Memon who executed 1993 Bombay bombings at Pakistan's behest, converted into a Mazar when Uddhav Thackeray was CM.” He also demanded an apology from Thackeray, Congress’ Rahul Gandhi and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar - leaders of the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
As the saffron camp launched the fresh attack on the previous coalition, Shiv Sena leader Anand Dubey hit back asking what was Kadam doing when the terrorist’s grave was being given a touch of remodification. "I'd like to ask Ram Kadam what he was doing when the grave of terrorist Yakub Memon got converted into a Mazar... Now that our government is not in power, you tweeted some photos to defame our leaders?... We didn't have anything to do with Yakub Memon," Dubey said.
Meanwhile, NCP leader and former deputy CM Ajit Pawar said such things should not happen for any person involved in anti-national activities.
Kamal, however, had a different take on the controversy. He said, "It's a display of love. It neither weakens religion nor is it wrong. He died. Those who were pained will give themselves to this grave..."
The 1993 blasts in Mumbai (then Bombay) had killed 257 persons and injured more than 700 persons, besides causing damages worth crores and initiating a decades-long divide that is yet to be bridged. The blasts were planned by gangster Dawood Ibrahim and executed by his associates, including Tiger Memon, Yakub Memon and Abu Salem.
