Friends in need

After actor Salman Khan was sentenced to five years in jail for drunken driving and killing a man sleeping on a Mumbai pavement in 2002, social media went into a frenzy with some outrageous posts from his friends and colleagues in Bollywood. A couple of our foot-in-the-mouth politicians also drew flak for their comments. Bharatiya Janata Party member Shaina N C stirred up controversy with her tweet: "Sad sad sad as we accept the honourable court's verdict, only hope and pray for least sentence", which she later deleted. She then posted: "Sad fr (sic) @BeingSalmanKhan and his family that has done remarkable charity. But the law proves that it is equal for all." Former MP Milind Deora of the Congress got flak for his comment, "India's judiciary may have spoken, but for those of us whose lives @BeingSalmanKhan has touched so deeply, his sentence is a major setback." He clarified later: "Empathising with a friend doesn't equal disrespecting the verdict or showing apathy for those who were killed."