Tahawwur Rana’s Extradition: Media Trial Before Justice?
- Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar’ & the Danger of Mob Mentality
- Yellow Journalism in India: TRP Over Truth
Justice Markandey Katju critiques India’s media trials, comparing Tahawwur Rana’s case to Shakespeare’s ‘Cinna the Poet’ and Alice in Wonderland’s ‘Off with his head!’ mentality. A scathing take on mob justice and sensationalist journalism
Hang him for his bad verses
By Justice Markandey Katju
I don't know whether Tahawwur Rana, who has been extradited from USA to India, is guilty or not of the 2008 Mumbai attack which resulted in 175 deaths, including 9 of the attackers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Mumbai_attacks
But what is obvious is that our great Indian media, which frequently holds media trials ( e.g. of Justice Yashwant Varma ) has already convicted him.
I am reminded of ShaKespeare's play 'Julius Caesar'. After Caesar's assassination the angry Roman mob, baying for the blood of Caesar's assassins, went on the streets of Rome, seeking the assassins.
They caught hold of a man named Cinna, who was a poet. Now Cinna was also the name of one of the assassins. The person caught protested that he was Cinna the poet, not Cinna the conspirator. But the mob howled '' Hang him for his bad verses '' and lynched him.
This shows the mentality of the mob, and it also shows the mentality of most of our mediapersons. All they want is 'mirch masaala' and sensations ( to increase circulation or TRP rating ). In other words, it is yellow journalism, with truth as the first casualty.
I am also reminded of Lewis Carrol's famous book 'Alice in Wonderland'.In that book there is a scene where people accused of some offence are brought before the Queen of Hearts, who would shout for each of them '' Off with his head ''.
When someone asked what about holding a trial and giving the man a hearing, she would say '' Off with his head first, trial and hearing afterwards ''.
And I would not be surprised if a Court awards the death sentence to Tahawwur Rana to satisfy 'the collective conscience of the community'
(Justice Markandey Katju is a former Judge, of the Supreme Court of India, and former Chairman, of the Press Council of India. The views expressed are his own)
