The outrage caused by the acquittal of Manu Sharma and his friends in the Jessica Lall murder case of 1999 sparked widespread protests. In fact, in an unprecedented move, NDTV urged its viewers to send SMS messages in support of a demand for a retrial. They promptly received well over a quarter of a million messages. So outraged were people that they flocked to marches and rallies, including a well-attended candle-light vigil at the India Gate.
Apparently, some sections of the press reported that the protesters were inspired by a very powerful scene from the recent Bollywood hit, Rang De Basanti. In the movie, an Indian Air Force pilot is killed while flying the dreaded MIG-29 Aircraft due to a faulty spare part. The Defence Minister squarely blames it on pilot error and neglect. The ensuing public outcry culminates in the mother of the pilot, played by Waheeda Rahman, leading a candle-light vigil at the India Gate demanding justice and her son's honor.
How a new generation of seemingly unlikely revolutionaries awakens is what the movie is about. This new brand of revolutionaries resorts to a rather simplistic solution of violence in the end and the poignancy of the non-violent candle-light vigil is somewhat undone, one might argue. What we can't argue with is that the movie itself struck a chord and has been a runaway success.
Now back to Jessica Lall. Late on an April night in 1999, 34 year old Jessica was working at a trendy bar frequented by Delhi's elite. Well past closing time, Manu Sharma, who is the son of a rich sugar mill owner and politician, demands a drink. Upon being refused, he allegedly shoots and kills Lall, with several people watching.
He is arrested, confesses, then retracts saying that his admission of guilt was under stress. Several years go by and several witnesses dramatically change their versions of what happened that night. And now, Sharma and his alleged accomplices are acquitted.
Traditionally, middle class, urban India has been a reluctant participant in protest marches, rallies, elections and the like. However, Jessica Lall seemed to have touched a chord with many. And the frustration with the ability of the rich and powerful to get away with murder, literally, seems to have triggered these unprecedented protests.
For now, they seem to be having some effect. For starters, the Delhi police have ordered a probe into evidence tampering in the case. While there have been no announcements about it, some acknowledge privately that the pressure from the public is going to be hard to ignore, as far as a retrial is concerned.
The Rang De Basanti style vigil seems to work. The SMS demands for retrial do seem to matter. Justice might not be elusive forever and with time, it might actually arrive.
And perhaps with time, we will learn not to look to Bollywood or NDTV to be the source of our collective social conscience. We might even come to realize that we don't need to look as far as Delhi to find instances of injustice.
And when we do come across injustice, here's to each of us finding it in us to light our own candle.
