Gulf News

‘Roads are for dogs, not people’

Abhijeet is accused of showing no compassion for the homeless

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After the court verdict in the Salman Khan hitand-run case on Wednesday, singer Abhijeet Bhattachar­ya tweeted that roads are meant for cars and dogs and not for people to sleep on — drawing intense flak. He is now defending the comments saying they were not meant to show disrespect for the homeless.

The singer shared a series of tweets after Additional Sessions Judge DW Deshpande, declaring Khan guilty in the 2002 case, sentenced the Bollywood actor to five years in jail.

“Kutta rd pe soyega kutte ki maut marega, roads garib ke baap ki nahi hai [If a dog sleeps on the road, he’ll die a dog’s death. Roads are not poor people’s property] I ws homles an year nvr slept on rd @BeingSalma­nKhan @sonakshisi­nha (sic),” Bhatachary­a tweeted. Adding: “Roads are meant for cars and dogs not for people sleeping on them. @ BeingSalma­nKhan is not at fault at all ...@ arbaazSkha­n @sonakshisi­nha”.

Jewellery designer Farah Khan Ali, too, expressed her opinion by tweeting: “The govt should be responsibl­e for housing ppl. If no 1was sleeping on d road in any other country Salman wuld not have driven over anybody ... It’s like penalising a train driver because someone decided to cross the tracks and got killed in the bargain. #salmankhan­case”

Both sets of tweets stormed social media and people started denouncing Bhattachar­ya and Khan Ali.

Some of the tweets read: Puja Talwar: “Yes we are allowed to feel bad, but can the likes of Mr Abhijeet pl show compassion for those less fortunate.”

NO SYMPATHY

Sucheta Dalal: “In one stroke, Bollywood morons like @FarahKhanA­li &; #abhijeet wiped out d sympathy that fans & people & fans felt for @ BeingSalma­nKhan”

Vikrant Gupta: “The so-called street ‘dogs’ also listen to your songs Mr Abhijeet. Shame on you #SalmanGuil­ty”

Shambhvi: “Shame on you people like Abhijeet and Farah Khan Ali. You don’t deserve respect from the masses. #SalmanVerd­ict”

Abhishek Baxi: “Can somebody cancel Abhijeet’s driver licence on the charges of ‘mentally unsuitable to take the wheel’”

Khan, one of the highest paid actors in Bollywood, was sentenced to five years in jail for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

The judge held Khan guilty of rash and negligent driving when he was at the wheel of the Land Cruiser that killed the victim in suburban Bandra in September 2002.

But barely hours after he was sentenced to five years’ jail time, Khan was granted two days’ interim bail on medical grounds by the Bombay High Court. —IANS

 ?? Photos by IANS , Fox STAR Studios, PTI and supplied ??
Photos by IANS , Fox STAR Studios, PTI and supplied

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