New Delhi: In case you have been completely cut off from TV news for a few days, let us tell you about some big news related to Bollywood that is being flashed 24×7. Yes, we are speaking about the Bollywood drug scandal news which started after the sudden demise of Sushant Singh Rajput. Though many Bollywood A-listers’ names have popped up, it is Deepika Padukone’s name that is clearly being blown out of proportion.
Deepika Padukone has been summoned by the NCB on September 25 in relation to a drugs case. Parallely, there are also a few other important issues going on in the country which are essentially being overlooked by the media at large. For example, is the media focusing on the farmers protests against three agriculture-related bills passed by the central government earlier this month?
Deepika’s alleged involvement in the the drugs case (which began with the Rhea Chakraborty-Sushant Singh Rajput saga about marijuana) has been sensationalised into a subject of utmost importance in India. But we must ask ourselves: is the drug case the greatest priority of our nation today?
The important point to note is that Deepika’s name is being dragged to divert the nation’s attention from bigger issues. It may be noted that she had visited the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in support of the varsity’s student body after some of its office-bearers had faced violence earlier this year. There is a lot of speculation doing rounds regarding A-List celebrities of Bollywood being dragged into the drug-scandal.
Some say that it is a result of stars choosing to show their anti-BJP stance in public. But we don’t know the exact and true reason yet, or perhaps we will never know why our nation has its priorities upside down. However, here are few important issues that need to be under the spotlight and which have bee overshadowed by the Bollywood drug scandal:
1. Is it really not so important to speak about deadly COVID-19 that is engulfing millions?
Though people are bored of hearing news about coronavirus, dont forget that it’s still around and has become even deadlier than before and is still spreading. Do you even remember this virus has taken lives, snatched away livelihoods? There is every chance that it could take down the human population unless people stay at home and maintain physical distance and wear masks. India is witnessing lakhs of new cases every week.
Knowing everything, and even witnessing the virus wreak havoc on India, we still choosing to bury our heads in the sand and talk about celebrities and their problems instead.
2. Ignoring farmers protests
The Indian public is always interested in knowing about celebrities. Deepika Padukone’s updates seem as if the future of the country depends on her not being a part of a drug nexus or because they just enjoy gossip. We are simply ignoring the farmers who are the ones who put food on our table.
Farmers in several Indian states are protesting against three new bills the government says private sector investments will stimulate growth. They are, The Farmers’ Produce Trade And Commerce (Promotion And Facilitation) Bill, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill.
The government used to set a price for each crop each season, called Minimum Support Price (MSP). This meant farmers were able to sell their crops to the government at a fair price. But now it seems like this MSP might be taken off. In the absence of MSP, if that big corporation decides to pay less than MSP to the farmer for their produce, the farmer will have no choice but to go with it, even at a loss, because who else will they sell to in bulk?
This means farmers are now at the mercy of big corporations, who, by the way, will mark up prices and make profits!
3. The ongoing investigation is not about Sushant Singh Rajput anymore!
Did you realise that what began as a probe into the circumstances leading up to Sushant’s death on June 14 has transformed into an industry’s drug investigation. The actor’s death investigation has taken a different direction. All the attention is being diverted towards the consumption of drugs by him and others now. Vikas Singh, the lawyer representing Sushant Singh Rajput’s father in his case also said that the Central Bureau of Investigation probe in the case is not on track.