Let me begin by citing a classic example of a famous celebrity being misquoted , who later receives scathing comments from people on social media and outraging outside his home. This is what acclaimed actor Mr. Salman Khan had to say about the potential hanging of Yakub Memon, one of the primary accused in the Mumbai attacks of 1993. He tweeted that Yakub should be spared from the capital punishment and instead Yakub's brother,Tiger should be hanged.
This statement on twitter by Mr. Salman Khan created a huge controversy on social media as well as on the streets of Mumbai in protest of his statements. He later had to retract his tweets as a result of this outrage against him. Now lets analyze why he made such a statement and what he and other innumerable people on social media could do to avoid getting misquoted often.
Although many might argue that Mr. Salman did not have any business in stating his opinion on the Hon. Supreme Court's order. But the fact of the matter is that everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion. However. stating your opinion does not mean that you say something that is illogical and without due deliberation. This becomes all the more important if you are a well known celebrity,politician or sportsperson. People are waiting for you to to make a mistake and launch a tirade against you. In Salman's case people interpreted his tweet as an advertisement of Yakub's innocence. But , later Salman clarified and apologized for his tweet saying that he never meant to brand Yakub as innocent.
This whole episode of Mr. Salman Khan is just one of the many examples of people getting misquoted and later having to apologize. My argument is that why people don;t think before they disseminate their thoughts on social platform. Why people like to stultify themselves? I am sure people have the time to think before they translate their thoughts into words. Mistakes do happen . But glaring mistakes which most of the celebrities make can lead to creation of a mountain out of a molehill. Hopefully, in future the popular demographic of this world can act in a more discerning manner rather than being whimsical all the time.
