THE sentencing of (in)famous Bollywood actor Salman Khan to five years of imprisonment by the Chief Judicial Magistrate (Rural) of Jodhpur, Rajasthan for killing two blackbuck antelopes near the Kankani village of Rajasthan has once again helped the Indian judiciary win great confidence of the people of this country. The usual scene is that the rich and famous never get punished for the crimes they commit. They find one way or another to escape. For similar crimes or crimes much less serious, the poor and the ordinary accused get punishment and serve terms in jail. Salman Khan too is going to spend the night tonight in the Jodhpur central jail because his bail application will come up tomorrow. However, bail is something that cannot be denied to anyone, unless the court is convinced that the accused will influence the witnesses if he is let out.
Hats off to the forty-odd villagers and low-level forest department employees, who stood firm on their evidence to prove that Salman Khan killed the blackbucks. The actor was shooting in the area and he and other actors – Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre and Neelam – decided to have fun and went hunting for blackbucks aided by a local person. The other actors, who were charged with abetment to the killing, have been let off on benefit of doubt. The silver lining is that Rampal Bhawad, the Rajasthan state president of the Bishnoi Tigers Vanya Evam Paryavaran Sanstha that played a role in helping the prosecution has said that they would press for the prosecution to file an immediate appeal against the acquittal of Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre and Neelam as they were equally guilty of the unlawful act.
It would be wrong to presume that these famous actors, Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre and Neelam were not aware that blackbuck was an endangered species. Blackbuck antelope or kali hiran acquires its name from the upper part of its body which is blackish brown in contrast to its white underbelly. It is native to India and has been mercilessly hunted; the species is now among the ‘nearly threatened’ with extinction. Hunting of blackbuck is prohibited under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. Many national parks of Indian have taken steps for the conservation of the species. The Ranthambore national park of Rajasthan is one of them. But blackbuck is also found in certain other parts of Rajasthan too, such as in the vicinity of the village where Salman Khan shot two of them. According to environmentalists, the blackbuck mostly lives in open grasslands, dry scrub areas, thinly forested areas. They are generally seen in the area where there are good sources of water all the year round. Blackbucks cannot sustain cold climate. Hence, they are mostly found in the desert areas of Rajasthan and coastal areas.
In the colonial India of course there were no restrictions on hunting; so blackbucks were freely hunted for meat and skin. Blackbuck hunting (kali hiran ka shikar) was a great pastime of the Rajput princes of Rajasthan in the pre-independence era as they loved killing an animal that had very good eyesight and was also a very fast runner. Sharp eye and quick feet are the blackbuck’s main defence against predators. Their predators include wolf, hyena and jackal. However, the two blackbucks that were killed by Salman Khan had found a worse predator in him, for his shots travelled much faster than they could run. This is not the first crime Salman Khan has been found guilty of committing. He has been involved in a hit-and-run case. Let us hope the higher courts confirm his conviction and sentence by the Jodhpur (Rural) CJM so that his case serves as a reminder to the rich and famous not to cross the limits of law in fond arrogance that nobody could touch them. Our corrupt system does have pockets of bravery and integrity in the judiciary, bureaucracy, politics, media and society that now and then let the rich and famous know that they cannot bulldoze the walls of laws and keep going along in their juggernaut.
However, there is something serious to worry about. People do not reject celebrities even after they are convicted and sentenced by court. Sanjay Dutt was imprisoned for years for having had a criminal dealing with people associated with the underworld; and yet filmgoers did not proclaim him anathema; they continued to watch and enjoy his movies. Salman Khan has not faced any decline in his fan base owing to the hit-and-run case. He is unlikely to face any fall owing to his conviction in the blackbuck killing case. Why do people, we wonder, keep talking of moral decline in India? Should they not look into their heart, first?