India witnessed two high-profile deadly events in 2002. A drunk superstar ran over five people in Mumbai street, killing one of them and maiming the others. The other was the willful massacre of about 2,000 Muslims in Gujarat under its chief minister’s watch. One incident was an accident, while the other was a planned carnage.
Both the men involved have a massive army of fans who would insult or abuse anyone who dared to question the conduct of their role models. One has earned the ‘bad boy’ tag in Bollywood and the other gentleman was called ‘butcher’ in political circles.
After 2002, one of them took to charity while the other, without the slightest hint of remorse, went on to pursue higher political goals.
If one of them has reportedly paid cash to compensate the victims and their families, the other has only given a free hand to his ministers and party workers to spit more venom against the same minority that was at the receiving end in Gujarat.
If one is getting ready to go to jail, the other, as the premier of the country, is preparing for his next foreign tour.
Today, we are outraged over a singer’s tweet in support of Salman Khan, comparing the homeless to dogs, but, how can we forget the analogy given by Narendra Modi when he said he would be pained even if he is in the backseat of a car and a puppy comes under it, answering a question on whether he regretted what happened in 2002.
While Khan’s friends from the industry protest the verdict, the media slams them as being ‘insensitive’ to say the least. We must sit up and think what happened to the alleged plotter of the 2002 pogrom. Not only have we looked the other way, we have also elevated him to the highest post in the country. It is easy to blame the system, but it is we who make up the system and cause it to rot.
Khan’s case has restored people’s confidence in justice — it can be delayed but not always denied.
In the aftermath of the verdict, the media has rushed to get sound bytes from the family of Nurullah Mahboob Sharif who was killed in the car accident. The scribes asked them how they felt about obtaining ‘justice’.
With Modi exonerated by the Supreme Court’s Special Investigation Team (SIT), and a right-wing government headed by Modi himself at the center, can someone ask Zakia Jafri, the widow of Ehsan Jaffry, who was hacked to death and later burned by Hindutva forces in 2002, if she even hopes to get justice?
—
Email: [email protected]
