Arrogance of the Rich and Powerful: Saif Ali beats guy up for complaint
With fame and power comes a certain level of brashness. In India, that brash nature is backed by complete impunity with which law is played with by the wealthy and powerful. We have seen that with the business (Jessica Lall case) and in Salman Khan’s case.
Another recent case underscores the same issue.
At an upscale restaurant in Mumbai, a South African businessman Iqbal Sharma was having his food, while people on the adjacent table were making a lot of noise. He asked them to keep things down a bit. But in return he got retorts like “Go to a library if you want peace”. When he persisted, he was beaten up in a bad brawl that night.
The people on the adjacent table included Saif Ali Khan and his friends, including Arora sisters – Malaika and Amrita. Saif got arrested but was out on a bail of Rs 3000. Now, that is a complete mockery because Rs 3000 would probably have been the tip they may have given to the waiter of their table as well!
The South African dude meanwhile was beaten up and injured. Unfortunately, the guy didn’t know who Saif was.
Sharma and his 68-year-old father-in-law, who was also allegedly beaten by Saif and his three male friends, said they were abused before being assaulted for their “audacity to complain to the management asking them to keep their voice down”. “As we were going down the stairs, Saif was coming up, probably from the toilet. As he passed me, he called me an idiot and asked ‘do you know who I am?'”
Sharma said the actor first pushed him and then assaulted his father-in-law who fell on the stairs and bruised his jaw.
He said he had discovered that one of the assailants was Ladak. “The other two gentlemen I don’t know.” Asked if Khan and his friends were under the influence of alcohol, his father-in-law, who identified himself only as Patel, said,”I cannot say but they were very rowdy.” On whether it was a drunken brawl, Sharma said, “We can’t say they were drunk or intoxicated, but sober people don’t behave like that.” Khan has been involved in public spats earlier too, including some photo journalists in Patiala in September 2008.
It was the audacity of the guy to complain against the Nawab of Pataudi that irked him.
Sometimes you wonder at the language on display from politicians in power like Chidambaram, Digvijay Singh and Rahul Gandhi and from such celebrities – which wreaks of self importance at a level where everything else seems trivial. No human being really matters. Everyone is but a mere cog in the giant wheel, which is being run by these people of power.