Trial by media and double standards of society


If Salman is guilty of killing the endangered blackbucks and innocent people on streets then he must be severely punished but before the highest court in India delivers its verdict it is only fair that the media, the animal organizations, human rights organizations, the media, the letter writers and the general public refrain from criticizing Salman and passing any judgements. And aren't we all practicing double standards. It is common knowledge that there have been many cases involving killing of animals but how many of these incidents are highlighted by the media and how many of us criticize these culprits. But when Salman Khan gets involved then reams of newsprint and lots of sound bytes gets devoted to the issue time and again. This is proved by a recent incident where just a week ago, 15 deers were found dead in Byculla zoo. The media did not devote much attention to this issue and the reactions of animal organizations were almost nonexistent. But the moment the Jodhpur verdict was announced, we had Maneka Gandhi, Anuradha Sawhney and other animal activists appearing on various news channels and writing columns where they spewed venom on Salman Khan. What are these animal activists doing about the serious animal poachers that are abundant in India? The poaching continues unabated without anyone getting caught. And how many poachers has the Bishnoi community, which is being lauded for taking on Salman Khan, got arrested till now. And the people are missing the point when they aver that their belief in justice has been restored after Salman's conviction. Just a stray case of Salman Khan's conviction cannot be considered as a victory for the legal system in India. People should know that Salman might be a big star but he is also a soft target for everyone. The day the big fish - the corrupt politicians, the communal leaders, etc are convicted and jailed only then would the faith in justice will be restored. Before Salman got involved in the hit & run incident, several cases occurred before and after this event. But all the guilty persons involved were let off after paying bail of Rs. 700 and for the same crime Salman was put in jail and a case was filed that is running for the last 4 years. The court even ordered Salman to pay Rs. 10 lakhs to the victim's family, which never happened in other cases. When the audiotapes (that were later proved fake) were played on news channels in July 2005, the BJP and his party workers destroyed property and stopped screenings of Salman's movie even before the truth was established. They demanded his arrest. But when a news channel recently aired videotapes of many film stars dancing at Dawood Ibrahims party in Dubai then there was not even a murmur and neither BJP nor any party sought arrest of these film stars. Why this double standard. And isn't it ironical that while BJP always defend their ministers when they are caught on camera taking bribes and call those tapes fabricated, they made an issue of the fake audiotapes. It is to Salman's credit that he did not sue the channels and the people who had defamed him on the basis of fake tapes. The issues concerning Salman involve serious accusations and it precipitates the need for everyone to take precautions and be absolutely sure about the matter before they critize and create media hype. The media should debate on these issues without any bias instead of just sensationalizing the issues and passing their judgement on Salman Khan. Responsible Journalism is the need of the hour. Yes, two wrongs do not make a right but why should only one wrong be punished why not the other one. That's the main concern. The media goes overboard while publicizing these incidents but they never show the same enthusiasm when Salman gets involved in charitable causes or do good deeds. It's a different matter that Salman does not show off like other film stars like Aishwarya Rai, Shahrukh Khan, etc. Of course Salman's good deeds do not negate his bad deeds but then why not give him credit where it is due and why not praise him for his good deeds also. All this is not to justify Salman's bad behaviour or his nefarious activities. If Salman's crimes are established everyone is free to criticize him as much as they want and he will also be punished but till then everyone should please refrain from passing any judgements. This is the least we can do to be impartial.

AMJAD K. MARUF

Back