Shiv Sena motormouth Sanjay Raut has now issued clarification on his comments that former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi used to come to Mumbai to meet underworld don Karim Lala.
https://twitter.com/CNNnews18/status/1217676400485752832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
As reported by CNN News 18, Sanjay Raut said that I have always respected Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi despite being in the opposition. “You must have read my views earlier also even in Saamana. Whenever people have attacked Indira Gandhi, I have stood by her.”
Clarifying his statement, he said, “We were talking about Mumbai and were discussing what kind of atmosphere was there in Mumbai back then. A lot of people would come to meet Karim Lala, especially politicians. He used to keep the pictures in his house. The atmosphere back then was different. Karim Lala was member of a Pathan community, “Pakhtun-e-Hind” and he was a leader of Pathans. He was a world leader of Pathan community. He had come from Afghanistan. He was associated with Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, who is also known as Frontier Gandhi. Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Karim Lala, they all used to meet Indira Gandhi and other leaders to discuss issues concerning Pathans. That’s all I said that they had that kind of reputation.”
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While Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan was an independence activist who fought against the British rule alongside Mohandas Gandhi, Karim Lala was a dreaded gangster who terrorised Mumbai for over two decades operating from impoverished, crime-infested Muslim ghettos in Mumbai like Dongri and Nagpada. While Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan was known as Frontier Gandhi for his non-violent movements and pacifist nature, Karim Lala was notorious for contract killings, forceful property eviction, kidnapping and extortion.