Sunjay Dutt and John Donne

Sunjay Dutt committed a crime, was caught, tried, and after fourteen long years, was finally found guilty and sent to jail. But this piece is not about him, not about whether he was guilty or innocent, nor about the quantum of his sentence. It's about the high decibel clamour from Bollywood protesting against his sentence. It's about everyone from Dilip Kumar to the newest wannabe shouting from the rooftops about what a saint Sunjay is, about how he was just a victim of the circumstances, about how he has reformed. To a man (and woman) they declaim before the cameras that "poor Sunjay" must be set free. The touching camaraderie almost brought a lump to my throat. The man must be a really lovable type, I thought, for all his colleagues to jump to his defence like this. Dale Carnegie's "How To Win Friends And Influence People" come to life.

Just then, my brain's resident cynical imp woke up, took one look at my train of thought and hooted with derision. "You poor mug, do you really believe that they are all so deeply concerned about Sunjay Dutt? Most of them couldn't care less about what happens to him! My poor innocent, this outrage isn't about Sunjay Dutt at all. What has got them deeply worried is that the invisible wall of immunity they have always taken for granted has been breached."

As usual, the imp was right. These people have played fast and loose with the laws of the land, firm in their conviction that the laws did not apply to them. Up to now they've got away with murder. Money, and the aura of stardom ensured that they were never called to account for their crimes - ranging from drugs to bigamy to tax evasion to posing as farmers to grab agricultural land to mowing down innocent men, women and children while drunk. To be above the law was the birthright of the stars. Sunjay Dutt's case has violated this very birthright. That is what the shrill hysteria is all about. Dutt is simply a cloak for the fear that has taken root in their hearts - the fear that tomorrow the law may call them to account for their crimes. The fear that finally the law may actually implement what was till now a pleasant fiction - that all are equal before the law.

Unbidden, John Donne's lines sprang to mind :

Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

The Bollywood bigwigs have heard the bell tolling - and they don't like the sound one bit!