The first impression is not the most reasonable and coherent one. In most of the matters, it is unwise to jump to conclusions only just by hearing one side of the story especially in cases of alleged harassments. There is always something that you don’t know. In the rapidly growing digital world, more and more people are becoming victims of this contagious disease of jumping to conclusion without even having sufficient understanding of the subject or issue, and without thinking about the situation completely. Social media has made a chief justice out of each and every individual. These days, digital warriors have an immense talent of making anyone a hero or a villain without even having the full knowledge, in fact having no knowledge at all.
Recently, the three year old case of Saravjeet and Jasleen Kaur was in the limelight again. Three years ago, a girl named Jasleen Kaur- a former student of St Stephen’s college and an active member of AAP’s student wing, CYSS- in a Facebook post, alleged Saravjeet of verbally harassing her at Tilak Nagar traffic signal in West Delhi. No sooner had her social media post gone viral, an endless cycle of ordeal commenced in Saravjeet’s life. People appreciated Jasleen for her bravery, including some high profile people in the country like Arvind Kejriwal. It was obvious for Kejriwal to sympathize with her as both are birds of the same feather. Everyone had virulently criticized and attacked Saravjeet, keyboard warriors demanded harshest possible punishment to be awarded to Saravjeet. Bollywood celebrities, activists, feminists, liberal-leftist cabal all in unison labeled Saravjeet as ‘pervert’ without even bothering to know his side. The Delhi Police also arrested him without delay. Later on, it was found that it was the girl who was at the fault but the damage was already done. Her post ruined Saravjeet’s life and reputation. He is still struggling to get a stable job. On the other hand, the girl has happily moved ahead in her life and pursuing her studies in Canada. People should keep in mind what Frances Cole Jones, author of How to Wow, has said, “There’s an underlying layer to what’s being said.”
For more details: How an AAP activist, with the help of Kejriwal, destroyed an innocent man’s life
A similar case happened in 2014 in Rohtak, Haryana where two sisters had confronted three alleged molesters. Their video of bravely beating alleged molesters had gone viral on social media and mainstream media also gave 24×7 coverage to the incident. Their so-called brave act attracted appreciations and congratulatory messages. Manoharlal Khattar, CM of Haryana, announced bravery awards for the girls. The girls were made heroes without any delay. Later on, the whole case turned out to be false. Eyewitnesses claimed that boys are innocent. In fact, the girls were at fault. Another video of both the sisters surfaced where they were beating two boys in the park before the Rohtak incident came to limelight. As the media further delved into the matter, it was found that the girls are serial offenders who would beat men up alleging sexual molestation; record the incident and then blackmail the accused for money. But again damage was already done. Kuldeep Hooda, one of the alleged molesters, was not allowed to sit for the Army exam. The conductor and bus driver suspended. The entire case also took a dangerous casteist turn. The accused were cleared in the case after 27 months of the incident. No further comment came from CM Khattar on the matter.
The common denominator between the cases of Jasleen and Rohtak sisters was the reactions of politicians especially of Kejriwal and Khattar, and male bashing by left-liberal cabal on social media responding to the events as narrated by the girls.
Both the politicians perceived girls’ version of events as gospel truth, highlighted it, appreciated them and made them a hero without knowing the other side of the coin. The public trial of the accused followed. Before the entire picture became clear, media also ran kangaroo courts with zeal, shaming the accused.
Whenever a politician endorses a citizen’s viewpoint, s/he lends an aura of credibility to the events which are unquestionably believed by the politician’s followers. This leads to the accused being termed guilty without even a trial. Media and public act as both judge and executioner. This was very much visible during the case of Rohtak sisters where media and public shaming of the accused reached to an unprecedented level.
The episodes of Jasleen Kaur and Rohtak sisters are cautionary tales for politicians to avoid from speaking and taking sides on sensitive issues involving the life and reputation of a private citizen. Kejriwal and CM Khattar need to issue apologies to the real victims of Jasleen Kaur and Rohtak sisters cases.