Thursday, March 21, 2013

A myopic POV on Sanjay Dutt and the Mumbai riots verdict

“Because I have Muslim blood in my veins. I could not bear what was happening in the city."

Said Sanjay to his father when forced by the police to confess why he had procured the arms. Sanjay Dutt got these weapons from Anees Ibrahim, whose brother Dawood along with a few others, was the mastermind behind the Mumbai (then Bombay) riots.

For how the weapons reached Sanjay, who all was involved, why did Dawood want to arm people, the details surrounding the latest verdict and the reasons behind the disparity in the sentences, read this in-depth Tehelka article that covers a lot more.

If someone “conspires or attempts to commit, or advocates, abets, advises or incites or knowingly facilitates the commission of a terrorist act or any act preparatory to a terrorist act” is treated as a criminal, what about the corrupt politicians who have directly or indirectly caused a lot of anti-social elements to rise to the level where they can disrupt peace? That includes almost every other politician.

Back to Sanjay. He did procure the weapons, but did he use them? What matters is his intention and the proactive manner in which he reached out to gangsters. Gangsters who are waiting for opportunities to make the best of them. Gangsters who are aware that India has corrupt politicians that can be easily bought, lethargic legal system that will delay justice, and people who can be easily swayed or influenced in the name of religion.

It's unfortunate that our nation lacks the leadership that will curtail all the elements leading towards such disasters. It's not about a Bollywood superstar being given an easy sentence, or the fact that the verdict came 20 years after the riots, but the fact the every single such case points towards the failure of our system.

Ah, forget all of this. Let's go beat up some cops because we are MLAs and we can boss around!

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