In an attempt to woo minority voters in the Erode East by-election, DMK Minority Affairs Minister Gingee Masthan promises to take action to free the Coimbatore bomb blast convicts.
On Tuesday (14 February 2023), DMK Minister Gingee Masthan campaigned for elections outside Erode Thirunagar Colony mosque in support of Erode East constituency Congress candidate EVKS Ilangovan.
He said, “MK Stalin, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, has allocated approximately Rs.700 crores to transform the Erode Corporation into a modern corporation, with only Chennai receiving more funds. When people from Tamil Nadu go abroad for work and get into trouble, the chief minister attempts to negotiate with the foreign government on their behalf and takes steps to bring them back.”
He added, “The Waqf Board’s properties worth approximately ₹500 crore have been recovered. This has resulted in income generation for Mosques. The DMK government is taking steps to prevent any encroachment on Waqf land.”
He further said, “A legal advisory committee has been set up to free those Muslim convicts of Coimbatore bomb blast case who have been in jail for 25 years. I am raising this issue in the assembly. We can expect good news soon.”
The Erode East constituency has nearly 40,000 Muslim votes, according to voter data. As a result, DMK Minister Masthan attempted to project that the DMK government is always pro-Muslim, and he went so far as to promise the release of Muslim prisoners convicted in the Coimbatore bomb blast in order to woo Muslim voters.
Coimbatore Blasts 1998
On 14 February 1998, a series of 12 high-intensity explosions rocked Coimbatore leaving 58 dead and more than 250 injured. The target was BJP leader Advani. Investigations revealed that the banned Muslim fundamentalist outfit Al-Umma, headed by SA Basha was found to be responsible for the blasts.
This man and his organization Al Umma was allowed to function openly without any restriction by the DMK Government till the 1998 Coimbatore blasts.
Basha is currently serving life imprisonment but he has been living a lavish life in prison and has got parole more than 160 times in the last 24 years. Nawab Khan, Basha’s brother, was sentenced to one-life term and 27 years of rigorous imprisonment.
Nawab Khan’s son Mohammed Dhalka, was detained for giving a car to the main accused Jamesa Mubin, who died in the 2022 Coimbatore blast.
(with inputs from Dinamani)
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