Daily Times

The practice of mocking judiciary by those convicted has become common. No doubt, the judicial system has many loopholes but the general public also plays a huge role in inefficiency of judiciary in today’s world. It is quite rare that an individual from elite class gets sentenced, and if he does, we are all here to protect him with everything that we can. Unfortunately, the recent social media debate over the issue and hashtags have shown the same bias.

Recently, after two long decades, Bollywood superstar Salman Khan was sentenced to prison over a case of violation of endangered wildlife. The news amassed huge celebrity, politician and fan support. Although, I understand that people love Salman Khan but this blind support reflects what exactly is wrong with us.

The law should remain supreme irrespective of the person’s standing in the society. A common man gets punishment which is sometimes not even based on justice, while the influential are able to get away with crimes.

As soon as the news broke out, millions of people turned to social media to support Salman Khan. In three days ‘#salmankhan’ became the second highest trend on twitter. We don’t appreciate court for the one decision it takes but in fact start criticising it for the other 10 decision it didn’t take. User Sophie Chaudry, like many others, did the same: “Respect the Court’s decision but feels like #salmankhan has been singled out. He wasn’t alone. And how many ppl have been given 5yrs for hunting in our country? What about hardcore poachers who kill on a daily basis?!Praying he gets some relief soon & comes out of this stronger”.

The law should remain supreme irrespective of the person’s standing in the society. A common man gets punishment which is sometimes not even based on justice, while the influential are able to get away with crimes

When will we realise that there is always a first step. Sanjiv Bhatt, an Indian police official also tweeted, bringing in question the jurisdiction. He wrote: “If Salman Khan can be sentenced to 5 years imprisonment for killing a solitary deer, what should be the fair punishment for corporates, bureaucrats and politicians who connive to displace tribals and wilfully destroy pristine forests, rivers and entire habitats for their greed?”

One should not ignore the other criminals but calling out names just to protect someone—who has committed the crime and has been sentenced– is essentially wrong.

People are trying to erase the crime with the good-deed list of the celebrity. The question that arises is what id Salman Khan was not a celebrity? Certainly, most of us would have been tweeting with ‘#callforjustice’, ‘#animalrights’, ‘#savewildlife” etc.

Gavi Chahal also tweeted in defence of the actor: “Good words, good deeds, and good thoughts!! Gentleman #WeLoveYouSalmanKhan #WeSupportSalmanKhan bail #SalmanKhan”

This blind support was not limited to India only but also came from Pakistani fans. Mawra Hocane tweeted: “In a world with no “NO” human rights, a great human being is being punished for killing an animal umpteen years ago under animal rights. Bash me all you want, but there’s something completely wrong about it. Mind you such human beings are our saving grace! #SalmanKhanVerdict”. Yes, there is certainly something wrong and that is our blind support for the celebrities and influential elites.

Pakistani politician Rehman Malik went to another level by addressing the President of India. The Senator tweeted: “H.E Ram Nath Kovind Pre of India is advised to consider the release of #Salmankhan.I feel millions of his fans in India &across the world will appreciate ur kind gesture to this outstanding movie star. This advice is on humanitarian grounds.”

Are we allowed to surpass judicial grounds on the basis of emotional or ‘humanitarian’ grounds?

There are countless threads of tweets with umpteen reasons on how the punishment of a celebrity is unjustified. The trend shows our shallow values and hypocrisy regarding law. Before extending our support, we need to understand that law comes first. Law remains law, in every case, for everyone. Once we stop practicing ‘exceptions’, only then can we have a strong judiciary.

Published in Daily Times, April 9^th 2018.