This refers to the editorial, “Not being so human” (April 7). That Bollywood sensation Salman Khan has been sentenced to five years of imprisonment in the black buck poaching case by a Jodhpur court is not disturbing at all at least to a common law-abiding Indian citizen, albeit it might have come as a shock to his admirers. The superstar is a serial offender and the Jodhpur jail is his second home — he has made it a favourite rendezvous four times earlier also. The editorial has rightly said that being a superstar having millions of fans, Salman ought not to have done this detestable act which gives a wrong signal to the society in general and his admirers in particular.
The proponent of this theory that the star should not have been jailed but bailed out or reprimanded instead, are of the opinion that earlier also he had not been sentenced and on the same logic, the star should have been freed. But unlike the previous hit-and-run and chinkara killing cases where the witnesses had turned hostile, in the present case, the Bishnoi caste has been the cardinal witnesses and none has turned uncongenial. Thus, the sentence was pronounced. It is true that Salman Khan runs a charitable foundation ‘Being Human’ and he is the most benevolent, altruistic, magnanimous, philanthropic and munificent of all his Bollywood fraternity, but that does not mean that he is free to do whatever he likes, sans any fear of the law. The judgement has shown that however high you may be, you are not above the law.