Shades of Gray

Our history and our religious texts are full of instances that teach us to be patient and respect others’ viewpoint even if we don’t agree in principle. Being a democratic country, we should exist despite differing opinions. But that would be utopia in modern Indian society. Look at the way Gujarat is behaving after Aamir Khan visited and supported the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) activists.

All Khan wanted was that the displaced farmers be rehabilitated properly. Is there something wrong with that? Aamir is not the Supreme Court that his support will stall construction of the dam. Yet political workers of both the Congress and the BJP are behaving as if the dam is now doomed. Aamir has a viewpoint and burning his effigies and posters won’t make him change his mind.

Of course the political parties are trying to get political mileage by unnecessarily raking up an issue. Gujarat CM Modi, not my favorite politician, tried to remind Aamir of the displaced Kashmiri pundits for whom the government has not done anything so far. While Modi is right with his facts, that cannot be the excuse for not caring about the relocation and rehabilitation of those affected by the Sardar Sarovar Dam Project.

And this intolerance is not restricted to Gujarat. Everywhere people have become increasingly intolerant of views that go against their stand. Sometimes, we behave as if we are just different states without a single national identity holding us together. I once told a college student to go see a psychiatrist when he said that Maharashtrians feel threatened in Mumbai because of the presence of North Indians. The concept of ‘Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam’ has taken a severe beating. And all of us are to be blamed for this sorry state of affairs.

My question to all of us: How are we going to evolve as a society if we are not going to allow ifs and buts amongst us. Agreeing with one another all the time will certainly not make us a great civilization.

Sometime back when the killers of model Jessica Lall were let off by the judiciary for lack of evidence, there was a nationwide outrage. All of us felt let down by the system and the Delhi Police was forced, under public pressure, to order a re-investigation. If our legislative and judicial system has to save face, it is required that the murderers of Jessica Lall be punished. The public outrage was justified and in a sense, required as well.

However, I fail to understand what reason one can give to justify the support Salman Khan received, when he was sentenced for five years for killing an endangered species of Chinkara. If we want strict punishment for poachers of our Tigers, shouldn’t support a sentence when it comes to Chinkara? And if I was the offender, would anyone have supported me or called the sentence too strict keeping in view the alleged crime? Salman Khan has been involved in similar cases in the past as well and five years was actually less that what he rightfully deserves. Besides, he did not do it for money. He did it for fun. Unfortunately, for the fans, logic and law come at the end. Of course, the support Salman received from Bollywood was on the expected lines. Morality and respect for law of the land is not something we can expect from those who sing and dance to the tune of underworld.

The complaints against Salman Khan’s sentence have made one point clear. We Indians are never happy. We protest when criminals go scot-free as well as when our superstars are taken to task for breaking the law. We want the same law to apply to everyone, rich and poor alike, yet we crib when it actually treats everyone equal. How can we hope for a clean and efficient judiciary, if we keep protesting against the very few right verdicts we get to see?