The last decade has seen an immense growth in the number of social media sites and applications. Facebook which was initially used to “connect” with friends and family has not only become a strong medium for influencers to grow but also has become a source for keeping yourself updated with news. Twitter is like everyone’s own personal diary where we can give our opinions and rant out, albeit publicly. From Political parties hiring people for their own social media propaganda to people spreading awareness about our society, social media has a plethora of content.

However, not everything we see is true now, is it? There are always two sides to a coin, and three sides to a story. One could be your version, another mine and the third is the Truth. A trend which has gained popularity on social media is “Social Media Justice”. Basically, this is where someone posts about how they were wronged, and we all give our precious opinions who no one asked for in the first place. It doesn’t stop there though; some people take it a step further by leaving colorful comments on the page of the “accused”. Now freedom of speech you say? But at what cost?

One such case of Social Media Trial is the case of Mr. Sarvjeet Singh – also given the title of “Delhi ka Darinda” by our fellow citizens. In August 2015, Jasleen Kaur the “victim” posted a photo of a man on her Facebook wall accusing him of harassing her at a traffic signal by passing abusive remarks at her. The post caught attention of the whole country and many commented on it abusing Sarvjeet and applauding Jasleen. He was tracked down by Indian media and his mother was asked “How do you feel about your son being called the Delhi Pervert?”. Jasleen on the other hand was supported by people, praised and awarded by a newly formed political party. Sarvjeet was arrested post a police complaint filed by her.                                         

Fast forward to October 2019, Delhi court had acquitted Sarvjeet of all charges. During these 4 years, Jasleen had shifted to Canada for further studies and has not appeared before the court for the last 14 times citing educational priorities. Meanwhile Sarvjeet has lost several job opportunities, faced numerous accusations and had to appear before court just to be told that the hearing is pushed to a further date. I can not even imagine what he and his family might have gone through mentally and emotionally. As it turned out, Sarvjeet’s side of story was actually the truth, he had been misbehaved with and harassed by Jasleen.

Social media is a double edged sword but trial by social media is worse. Who gave us the right to judge a person based on one sided story posted by someone else? Were any of us present at the scene? If we were so qualified to do this what’s the point of having a Judiciary system? Just because no one is holding us accountable for our “social media judgments”, we have right to accuse people on a public platform?  False charges like these can ruin lives, waste the time already overburdened courts and one’s faith in the society as whole can be lost. Jasleen had passed a comment in an interview saying  she was scared Sarvjeet’s supporters might attack her and but what when she herself made him go through the same hell?

Having and sharing opinions is in no way wrong but declaring a person to be a pervert without proof is. Defaming someone and making them lose the right at a better life is a crime. It is our duty to use social media responsibly.

Aishwarya Says:

I have always been against Glorifying Over Work and therefore, in the year 2021, I have decided to launch this campaign “Balancing Life”and talk about this wrong practice, that we have been following since last few years. I will be talking to and interviewing around 1 lakh people in the coming 2021 and publish their interview regarding their opinion on glamourising Over Work.

If you are interested in participating in the same, do let me know.

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