No One Feel Any Sympathy for Rhea Chakraborty

Satire: If one innocent person is freed, other innocent persons in jail may get inspired, writes Dushyant Arora.

"If one innocent person is freed, other innocent person currently accused or in prison may get the idea that their name may also be cleared one day. This is dangerous. There are just too many innocent people wrongly framed for us to take this risk," writes Dushyant Arora.

(Photo: PTI)

“What is justice in Hindi?”

I was at a book discussion in Mumbai when I overheard a conversation between a Norwegian professor and an Indian politician—allow me to withhold the name of the party. I’m reproducing the conversation verbatim:

Professor: This Rhea Chakraborty person will now make a lot of money, won’t she? Terrible what happened to her, but at least there’s that.

Politician: Money? Why? 

Professor:  Oh, from the damages courts will certainly award her—so many people defamed her and accused her of murder. Now that she is cleared, she will sue them, and the courts will make them pay a lot of money.

Politician: These are all Western concepts; in India all this doesn’t happen. 

Professor (shocked): Oh! That’s surprising. I thought (it) was only fair. It’s only just that a person falsely accused should get payback from all the people who maligned her. I’m sure you’re not saying justice is a Western concept, but tell me, what is fairness or justice in Indian languages?

Politician: In Hindi it is insaaf, no sorry, nyaya.

Professor (slowly repeating): insaaf and nyaya...and injustice? 

Politician:  Anyaay/Na-insaafi. But it is not that simple. India is complicated; you won’t understand. Spend a few years with us, and then we will talk. (Chuckles.)

This conversation disturbed me, and I firmly believe that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) must alter its report, blame Rhea, and send her to prison. Ideally, Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt, Karan Johar, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, and Aditya Thackeray should all go to prison too. But if that is too much to ask, at least Rhea should be go.

The Investment in a Narrative

The CBI says that Sushant Singh Rajput died by suicide, that there was no foul play, and that Rhea is innocent.

But Rhea’s innocence is simply irrelevant. In fact, the CBI’s reference to evidence may even be dangerous. So much time and money has been spent—not only by politicians and TV news anchors but also by millions of ordinary (real as well as fake) people.

These individuals have spent precious hours of their lives, their emotions, and willingly or unwillingly, delivering us the Bihar Assembly election. They have helped us delegitimise the then-in-power Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra, particularly the Thackerays, and we have more than reaped the benefits.

They have shown exemplary courage and threatened so many women with rape and murder. They have helped us mount a near-successful operation to take full control of the Hindi film industry—an endeavour that, if not for the 2024 Lok Sabha verdict, would have succeeded—and may still succeed, God willing. It was one of the greatest mass psychoses India has ever witnessed. It was beautiful. We did it.

After all this investment, all these rewards, all that we have gone through together, is it fair of us to let down these people? Risk disabusing them of their illusions? Humiliate them in public by proving them liars? 

Let us talk about meaning and purpose. For millions of ‘us’, participation in a mob is a primary source of meaning. It is our lifeline. There is very little Indians believe they have the right to, beside the membership of one mob or another. God knows we neither demand or receive good schools, hospitals or jobs. But we do demand, and receive, opportunities to be part of a mob.

Sure, theoretically, we can find another controversy soon, another innocent person to target. But can we risk the morale going down? Of the rank and file feeling discouraged?

Don't get me wrong. It is not that I don’t understand our sincere limitations; it is not that I am unreasonable. Rhea maybe a woman, but she is not Muslim. The campaign against her could only have lasted so long.

The Consequences of Truth

We must, however, consider the consequences.  

1. If one innocent person is freed, other innocent person currently accused or in prison may get the idea that their name may also be cleared one day. This is dangerous. There are just too many innocent people wrongly framed for us to take this risk.

2. The CBI has said there was no evidence of foul play. This unnecessary importance given to evidence may discourage many warriors on TV and YouTube. Tomorrow, assume we want a TV channel to run something, and the news anchor asks us to give “evidence” first and only then will they accuse someone. What will our fate be?

3. This business about “innocence” and “evidence” may give rise to the idea that people have rights, that it is not our will, but some system that is supposed to be fair to everyone. Take this case for example. What if Rhea Chakraborty or her supporters start demanding their right to bulldozers? Eknath Shinde ji has recently said that action has reaction. Adityanath ji and Fadnavis ji have said that damages will be recovered from the property of wrongdoers. What if people start putting 2+2 together and demand their own bulldozer justice? There are not enough bungalows in Bandra and Lutyens to withstand this.

4. At the moment, most Indian citizens see political parties as football clubs or IPL teams they support. They are fans. Loyal. They defend their side in debates on social media and violence on the street. If witch-hunts keep turning out to be duds, if people get disillusioned, start thinking of what else can they take from “us," how long will we remain in power? Already people like Mr Rahul Gandhi and Mr Kunal Kamra have started showing India’s constitution to people. The catastrophe that will visit us if people find the time to start reading that book cannot be overstated.

5. No one feel any sympathy for Rhea. Is it our fault that in all the years which have passed, she did not join “our” political parties? If she had, things would have turned out so differently. She made her choice. We made ours.

6. Women. Today if one person gets the idea that Rhea did not kill Sushant, tomorrow another person will say Anushka Sharma is not at fault if Virat Kohli doesn’t play well in a match. Women are a nuisance. In universities, in farmer protests, in CAA protests, in political parties, over and over again—women. Is it safe for us to let more people find out that women are being unfairly wronged? 

Indians are owed abundance. They were promised abundance. We can deliver abundance. Let us not deny them an abundance of witch-hunts. We will repent if we go down that path.

(The author is a lawyer and research consultant based in Mumbai. This is an opinion piece, and the views expressed are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)