Thursday, March 21, 2013

Why're we blatantly partial?

Cine actor Sanjay Dutt has been sentenced to a 5 yr jail term by the Supreme Court in connection with the Bombay blasts of 1993. He has been convicted under the Arms Act for the illegal possession of AK 56 rifle, 9mm pistol with ammunition and grenades which were part of the consignment smuggled in by the underworld don, Dawood Ibrahim and his cohorts to cause serial blasts in Bombay during Mar '93.

It has been established earlier that he'd no role in the conspiracy and was clean on that score. Perhaps, he'd got into bad company during the dark phase of his life when he lived a wayward life and was used by those wicked men to achieve their ends or even to derail the investigations that were bound to follow and in the process, cover up their tracks. That the ruse failed completely highlights the meticulous homework carried out by the investigating agencies and the police.

The reactions, consequent to the Supreme Court's judgement, show our emotional stupidity. Almost all the TV channels had panels of distinguished people - including, to my utter surprise, eminent legal luminaries - discussing the pros and cons of Sanjay going to jail. That he's committed a mistake which, if committed by a common man will fetch that man a stint behind the bars, is a harsh fact and an unpalatable truth! Therefore, he needed to be punished and the quantum of punishment meted out to him by the learned judges took into account the gravity of his involvement. Period.

While appreciating the fact that he's regaled us through many of his movies and the 'Munnabhai' series, in particular, it doesn't give the 'raison d'etre' for trivialising his mistake and allowing him to go scotfree. If that were to happen, the common man would aptly conclude that the rich and the mighty, of the land, have a separate set of rules to govern them!

Let not emotions colour our judgement!


Tailpiece.

Kennedy was a much liked President of the United States. When he was brutally assassinated, photographs and news clips showed his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy, in bloodstained clothes with their young son, John, saluting his dad's bier. They were heart rending sights all right but not a single American clamoured for Jackie to be made President. I suppose this is the basic difference between us and them!

PS.

That I like Sanjay Dutt is a fact, thanks to the numerous roles that he's essayed in so many Hindi movies. In fact, my friends pull my leg at my ability to watch the Munnabhai movies anytime and every time. I've lost count on the number of times that I've seen them and hence, the agony that he's going through is shared despite my views above - make no mistake on that! 

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