The slapgate incident with Gauhar Khan has taken a new twist now. Mohammad Akil Malik, who slapped Khan, is now claiming that he was paid to do so by the actress herself. He had slapped Gauhar Khan on the finale of a reality show because according to him, she was dressed inappropriately.
Now the question which is being raised here is whether it was all a publicity stunt or if Malik is just saying this to gain some limelight.
Irrespective of the truth, the incident managed to showcase itself in all forms of media and let the whole country be aware of what happened. Of course, it did bring in the question of women safety and what the status of women is in India. But what I really want to know here is, is it justified that every 92 women getting raped daily go unnoticed and one actor who got slapped is hogging all the attention? I am not blaming her or saying that it was a small incident. It was a very shameful incident and action should be taken but what I don’t understand is, why is the whole media running after this story only?
The answer is very simple indeed. Media shows what the public wants to see. People here don’t like to see the seriousness of the news, what they are actually looking for is sensationalism. Who better to sensationalize, than a celebrity and that is what has happened here.
The number of rape cases is only increasing, from 24,921 in 2012 to 33,907 in 2013. This is only the number of reported cases. The actual numbers will be even higher. I am not saying that people are not paying attention to these staggering figures but what I feel is that this little attention is nothing in front of the importance given to the slap incident.
Why is it, that people only care if a celebrity is involved, why not take action against every such shameful act against every common girl of our country. We have to understand that the gravity of the situation and not just sensationalize things.
If Malik does turn out be right then we must take a lesson from this incident, that preference should be given based on the seriousness of the news and not just by seeing the people involved in it.
If Gauhar Khan is important for our nation then so is every other girl who lives in every city and village of our country. We have to realize this, and give the kind of attention which actually every story deserves.
