Superstardom automatically means you get a lot of friends, many of them influential. Unfortunately for Bollywood superstar Salman Khan, who was convicted this week for killing one person in a hit-and-run case dating back to 2002, not all those friends are legal experts.
So while many people have come out in support of the superstar, insisting that he is being treated harshly, that he is an upstanding man and that all of the world is out to get him, some of the arguments in his favour have managed to be truly ridiculous. Lots of people have pointed to the arguments by those who say people shouldn't be sleeping on the roads, but that's not the only egregious defence of the superstar.
Here are a few more:
1) It's Aishwarya Rai's fault for breaking up with him
Journalist CP Surendran says that the real entity at fault in the entire Salman Khan case should be the state, for allowing people to sleep on the roads. This is a familar charge, levelled by many. Surendran even says that in his mind, the municipality is at fault and should be hauled up for it. But he also manages to stick in a cheeky, half serious line exonerating Salman for driving under the influence that night.
"At the time, the star was going through the last throes of his affair with Aishwarya Rai. Which lover wouldn't go berserk when those green eyes looked away in disdain?" Surendran writes.
2) It's because he supported Modi
We should have seen this one coming, after Salman Khan met Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year in the run-up to the general elections. Any controversial issue in India is automatically politicised, around the grand Indian fault-line that is Modi. Surprisingly, the main narrative stayed away from this silly binary. But there was still a corner of the internet that took the bait, even if only to comment on the narrative.
3) Putting him in jail would be wasting his talent
There's nothing unique about the details of Salman Khan's case, except for the fact that he is a massive celebrity. The kind of meandering course the case took over the last 13 years wouldn't have been surprising to anyone who has followed the way Indian justice, other than the fact that Khan's status makes him more influential.
Yet many people want to see this as an opportunity to alter the way Indian justice works, to insist that it should make use of those who kill people rather than simply putting them behind bars. This piece by Gayatri Jayaraman argues just that.
4) He killed someone (but he's a good guy!)
Salman Khan was convicted for rash driving, endangering the lives of others on the road, killing one person, injuring four others and then running away from the scene of the crime. But Salman Khan is a good person. The gap between the last two sentences is pretty big, and one (or 10) Being Human charitable set-ups don't fill that gulf.
5) The sentence should have come when it would have helped him
There is a strain of argument suggests that Salman Khan has already undergone all the torture of being an accused over the last 13 years. Of course, there is another argument to be made that Salman Khan was as responsible for the 13-year-long process through his legal approach, which is his right. But many have still argued that Salman Khan, who was 37 years old when the incident happened, was a "bad boy" back then, and has since matured. Koel Purie, for example, argues here that he could have done with the "time out" back then.
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So while many people have come out in support of the superstar, insisting that he is being treated harshly, that he is an upstanding man and that all of the world is out to get him, some of the arguments in his favour have managed to be truly ridiculous. Lots of people have pointed to the arguments by those who say people shouldn't be sleeping on the roads, but that's not the only egregious defence of the superstar.
Here are a few more:
1) It's Aishwarya Rai's fault for breaking up with him
Journalist CP Surendran says that the real entity at fault in the entire Salman Khan case should be the state, for allowing people to sleep on the roads. This is a familar charge, levelled by many. Surendran even says that in his mind, the municipality is at fault and should be hauled up for it. But he also manages to stick in a cheeky, half serious line exonerating Salman for driving under the influence that night.
"At the time, the star was going through the last throes of his affair with Aishwarya Rai. Which lover wouldn't go berserk when those green eyes looked away in disdain?" Surendran writes.
2) It's because he supported Modi
We should have seen this one coming, after Salman Khan met Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year in the run-up to the general elections. Any controversial issue in India is automatically politicised, around the grand Indian fault-line that is Modi. Surprisingly, the main narrative stayed away from this silly binary. But there was still a corner of the internet that took the bait, even if only to comment on the narrative.
Wish Arnab would stop being outraged at fact that Salman is much loved figure despite one tragic blunder coz people value his good qualities
— Madhu Kishwar (@madhukishwar) May 7, 2015
Had Salman Khan not committed the unforgivable sin of praising Modi, I bet sickularists wd have argued he's being punished coz he is Muslim!
— Madhu Kishwar (@madhukishwar) May 7, 20153) Putting him in jail would be wasting his talent
There's nothing unique about the details of Salman Khan's case, except for the fact that he is a massive celebrity. The kind of meandering course the case took over the last 13 years wouldn't have been surprising to anyone who has followed the way Indian justice, other than the fact that Khan's status makes him more influential.
Yet many people want to see this as an opportunity to alter the way Indian justice works, to insist that it should make use of those who kill people rather than simply putting them behind bars. This piece by Gayatri Jayaraman argues just that.
What does a Salman in jail do for us that a Salman free cannot? Of course this raises debates of whether punitive action can be restricted to throwing money at the crime. But in the interests of Indian society, will harnessing a superstar factor with this much impact on the masses, actually make a difference? If so, does the legal community need to rethink what constitutes punishment at all?
4) He killed someone (but he's a good guy!)
I ask the law of land, what sort of people do we want locked away in jails? Nafisa Ali, Actor #SalmanBailOrJail
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) May 7, 2015
I want justice for India, for Salman. Do we want jails to be stuffed with people like Salman Khan? Nafisa Ali, Actor #SalmanBailOrJail
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) May 7, 2015Salman Khan was convicted for rash driving, endangering the lives of others on the road, killing one person, injuring four others and then running away from the scene of the crime. But Salman Khan is a good person. The gap between the last two sentences is pretty big, and one (or 10) Being Human charitable set-ups don't fill that gulf.
5) The sentence should have come when it would have helped him
There is a strain of argument suggests that Salman Khan has already undergone all the torture of being an accused over the last 13 years. Of course, there is another argument to be made that Salman Khan was as responsible for the 13-year-long process through his legal approach, which is his right. But many have still argued that Salman Khan, who was 37 years old when the incident happened, was a "bad boy" back then, and has since matured. Koel Purie, for example, argues here that he could have done with the "time out" back then.
"I make no claims at knowing whether Salman truly did it or not but it is ironic that his conviction comes 13 years later, when he is no longer a bad boy. They should have convicted him, if they had to, back when he needed the time out to rethink his life. He's finally matured, has probably repented for all the mistakes of his younger days and is trying to live a life where he can genuinely hold his head up high."