Witch, Vishkanya, Victim - And Weed

 

In the past three months, charges have been traded and insults flung all the way from Bihar to Bombay, from Delhi to Dawood, from Kolkata to Karachi to Kangana. Reason - you guessed right - the alleged suicide of Sushant Singh Rajput.  What have we achieved and where do we go from here?

 

The vilification of Rhea Chakraborty follows in the sad steps of hundreds of Indian women who have gone through a similar ordeal where they were blamed for everything that went wrong. Held guilty until proven innocent and even after proving their innocence, being perceived as guilty. ‘Kalyug’ really is here and we as countrymen, are the pallbearers of India’s decency & morality.

Before we proceed

This is not to say that the woman in question is above suspicion. That she did no wrong. That she’s not guilty. The charges against Ms. Chakraborty are for the parade of investigative agencies to look into. Should she be found guilty of anything, the law should take its own course. Just as it does for everyone. But the truth remains that an investigation that had begun with the late actor’s father alleging that Rhea was mooching off Sushant took more turns than a highway to Kasol, ultimately settling for her alleged role in procurement of cannabis for her boyfriend, ON HIS DEMAND.

There’s just so much to be said when a story this big is developing. While I can’t promise the reader that all that’s on your mind will be articulated here, I’ll try my best to address all possible issues one by one.

Stoners and Dealers

Starting with the hypocrisy around weed. Is weed illegal in India? Yes. Does weed have holy sanction in this land? Yes. Is weed sold in India? Yes. Is weed consumed in India? Yes. Aren’t we all a bunch of shady individuals who’ve got so much to hide? Sadly, yes. 

Over the years, multiple researches and studies have shown that illicit trade of weed does irreparable damage to our countrymen. Such is the level of proliferation, especially in the metros, that you don’t even need a dealer. Everyone’s got that one friend who knows a ‘Bhaiya’ who’ll get you the weed you want, sometimes even providing the ‘friends and family discount.’

 

This is a case for legalisation of marijuana in India. For those who don’t know, weed was legal in India right up till 1985. Then in order to join the American crusade or ‘War on drugs’, Government of India made it illegal. Rather shoved the trade under the table, where it still thrives, only at the expense of the unsuspecting consumers who buy dangerously poor quality from anyone who’d sell it to them, in the absence of government mandated quality standards, which would’ve been complied with had marijuana been legal in India. Moreover, just like other 'Sin' goods, eg Alcohol and tobacco, if cannabis were to be made legal, think of the inflow in government treasuries. 

Its time we shed the garb of ‘weedy high’ hypocrisy and let Bollywood and the rest of India smoke their weed in peace.

 

Sexism, Misogyny and More 

The second & more disturbing trend was the media trial Rhea was subjected to. Is being subjected to. Our shamelessly insensitive and pathetically dim witted news channels in their hurry to serve the ever hungry consumer that’s the Indian viewer threw away all standards of journalistic ethics and charged Rhea with every crime under the sun.

 From barging on shirtless men in order to get a juicy sound byte to shoving microphones and cameras into Rhea with complete disregard to her privacy, from digitally adding snakes to Rhea’s abdomen to performing a virtual post mortem on a dummy SSR, our news channels did it all. They accused her of trapping SSR in her black magic and by extention, shamelessly insinuated - All Bengali girls are of the same type - Deceptive and manipulative.  Guilty or not, the Indian TV audience watched with thrill beyond measure as a woman’s modesty was ripped apart on national television. Day in - day out.

Not my Circus, Not my Monkey 

 Right from the beginning of civilization, all family values are sacrificed  at the alter of entertainment. Whatever it takes to annihilate a person, family or community, as long as the destruction comes with an entertainment value, everything is permitted.

All these trends point towards a much larger, rabid picture of falling standards of social decency. A society that watches with glee as the neighbor’s drunkard son returns from his night parties notwithstanding the fact that their own son is a local goon. A society that scoffs at the parents of a woman accused of every crime there is, while willfully ignoring the dirty deeds of  their own children. A society that revels in the assassination of a woman’s character with complete disregard to the possibility that some day, their own daughter might be subjected to the same demonization as Rhea.

 

Guilty or not, Rhea will pay for her actions, both good and bad – states the law of Karma. But so will we. Its time we took a step back and evaluated our misplaced sense of satisfaction which is delightfully triggered every time someone is abused, beaten, bruised, dragged or killed. Someday, it could be you. And the same people who scoff with you today, will scoff at you. Imagine.   

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