Tuesday, February 28, 2006

The Jessica Lal case: Murder, lies and the people's media

The secret of successful journalism is to make your readers so angry they will write half your paper for you. ~ C.E.M. Joad

The verdict in the Jessica Lal case has seen unprecedented public outcry against what is believed to be an absolute hijacking of the law and judicial system of the country. In my view, what has led to this kind of a unanimous mobilization of emotions is not just the nature of the case – something which is not necessarily a first in our country, but the role the various media has played in fuelling emotions.

Not only do we have a plethora of news channels flashing images of shock - leading to further reaction, but one cannot overlook the role of the boundary-less and all-encompassing medium that makes the world flat - the internet. No other medium, has, prior to this enabled the Indian youth a platform so easy to voice an opinion. The interactive, immediate, and no-boundary nature of the web has helped give the phrase 'word-of-mouth' a new implication.

Passionate, raw reactions are plastered all over cyber space, in the form of blogs and reactions to news stories - unfurling a further cycle of opinions. Where on one hand you had blogs springing up in support of Jessica Lal, on the other, you had vitriolic comments splashed not only on the accused, but the perceived treachery of the hostile witness, Shayan Munshi.

NDTV recieved over 200,000 SMSs in support of the re-trial of the case, which was taken in the form of a petition to the President. Requisitions to sign up for the March 4th Protest March were sent out over the internet and through SMSs.

Truly, the byte is proving to be mightier than the gun !

Saturday, February 25, 2006

Filmfare Awards 2006

Looks like Bollywood is bereft of any versatality in talent - or as the Film(unfair) 2006 Awards seem to suggest. Ridiculously enough, all the awards from technical to critics to popular have been given to Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Hollywood-ish and melo-dramatic rendition of a story inspired by the life of Hellen Keller - 'Black'. Undoubtedly technically compelling and subject-wise not run-of-the-mill, but a tad over-hyped - surely 'Black' was not the only colour present in Bollywood in 2005 - other movies like 'Iqbal', 'Parineeta', 'Hazaaron Khawashein Aisi', even the entertaining 'Salaam Namaste' for its refreshingly bold portrayal of modern-day youthful sensibilties too deserved some notice.

Friday, February 24, 2006

Maine sirf Jessica Lal ko nahin maara…

A struggling actor/model like Shayan Munshi has finally got the publicity he would have dreamt of all his life. People are asking, “Who the hell is Shayan Munshi?!” For those still in the dark, let me tell you. Shayan Munshi is a ‘budding’ actor who (with a ‘Jhankar Beats’ to his credit) has shot to fame for, well, being at ‘the place to be seen’, which unfortunately for him, turned out to be the wrong place at the wrong time – a key witness in the high profile Jessica Lal shooting case. Suddenly, from being a wannabe ‘who’s who’ of society, chose to do a ‘who, me?’ when it was his turn to testify as a witness to the murder of a ‘close friend’.

Anyway, this is not about Shayan Munshi, and the nobody he finally turned out to be. Like most of us, he’s only flesh and blood, and not the tough moral fibre that is required to stand up against a goon who also happens to be a politician's son. That moral fibre is something most of us only aspire to be. And neither is this about the hypocrisy of Page-3 fixtures – the likes of Bina Ramani, Malini Ramani and ilk, who have mostly chosen to walk the thin line dividing the ‘lawful’ from the ‘unlawful’ in the 'Third World', depending on what is more convenient at the current moment of time. So one cannot ignore the blatant flouting of the law that they were indulging in by serving liquor in an establishment that did not possess the liquor licence, while leading cushy and perhaps more law abiding lives in the 'First World' .

This is not just about Jessica Lal either. It is about the countless others who are victims of what can only be called a perverse smugness that has set amongst the politically-connected who have begun to perceive themselves as being above the law. It is about the death of a system based on democracy and fair judiciary which the founding fathers of our nation envisioned. The acquitting of the nine accused has not just dealt a deathly blow to the already dead Jessica Lal, but nailed the coffins of others, whose lives seem to count little in the eyes of a law which can be bought, manipulated and mostly coerced into submission.

Jessica’s case atleast got the media coverage it deserved. Most of them don’t make it even to the ‘News in Brief’ column. And most others continue to languish in public memory. Let us not be falsely cocooned within the comforts of our so-called educated and urban existence into believing that it could not happen to us. It could. Remember Nitish Katara, Manjunath Shanmugam, Satyendra Dubey, Priyadarshini Mattoo... They were People Like Us.

Some time back, some of us had been feverishly discussing the messages being given out by movies like Rang de Basanti, Yuva and Swades. And though the discussions were done on a much lighter note, time and again one is reminded of the common, more larger message inherent in these movies, that of individual accountability towards one’s nation – to participate instead of being mute cynics.

So, finally, this is about us, We the People. And the role we play in the life of our nation. Till such time that we continue to be apathetic to what happens around, the Manu Sharmas of the world shall thrive. That is what a democracy is about. Let us look around, and innumerable ways of participation will emerge. The public outrage that has forced the Delhi HC to set a deadline for Delhi Police to provide details on the Jessica Lal case may or may not mean much eventually, but is a step in that direction. The Trust set up in the memory of Manjunath Shanmugam by a bunch of IIM L alumnus is another example of one those ways - please contribute your bit so that it doesn't go the Jessica Lal way. Lets try.