Of this slap and that By Randeep Wadehra

Harbhajan has landed the tangibly costliest slap ever in India’s sporting history on the cheek of cheeky Sreesanth. But we couldn’t witness the actual action because the concerned TV channel – Sony Max – withheld the footage. So we had to make do with the aftermath scenes and verbal description of the incident. But three crore rupees is a rather stiff penalty for rendering unto his ‘younger brother’ what more powerful men routinely dish out to common folks, without having to pay any tangible or intangible penalty. One is talking of a specific violent act. This too involves a celebrity and a slap. One is talking of Govinda the Bollywood star and a Member of Parliament (India’s most august and highest law making/legislating body). Channels like Aaj Tak, Zee News and even NDTV telecast this momentous event. Right Honourable Govinda rendered this ‘signal service’ unto a common citizen whose only fault appeared to be that he was watching a film shooting in which his favourite star Govinda too was acting. The unsuspecting fan’s curiosity drew him nearer to his idol. And was rewarded with a resounding smack on the face! And since cinema is not cricket and the victim was, unlike Sreesanth, not a famous star himself, Govinda went scot free. He even got away with the brazen ‘I’ll do it again’ iteration right on the camera. Assuming that the other fellow had said or done something objectionable shouldn’t Govinda have called in the police who remain at the beck and call of the likes of him? One didn’t see any debate on the issue in any of the famed talk shows of NDTV, CNN-IBN or our Hindi channels.

Well the message is simple. Lawmakers can break the law with impunity. Celebrities can get away with poaching, crushing pedestrians under vehicles, indulging in bigamy, having extramarital marriages (yes, marriages and not affairs) by stealing the affections of someone else’s spouse, violating drugs and arms related laws. And be none the worse for it.

This is not to justify Bhajjji’s action. He had it coming for quite some time now. The point is, why the other celebrity offenders are not being made an example of? Is it because law is an ass or because its keepers/dispensers ...?