Constable Ravindra Patil when he was on duty

The question has been thrown at me so many times that I have lost count. Lots had this perplexed look on their faces while asking me the question.

A few posts on my personal social media — which either praised Salman Khan or thanked him — perplexed them. They wanted to know how I could put out such posts or status messages when I had publicly apologized to him before taking down two blogs, a couple of years back. 

This blog, hence, became a necessity to put things into perspective.

I am neither an enemy nor a fan of Salman Khan. He has millions of them on both sides of the fence and I don’t think he particularly cares about it. Also, I don’t think Salman Khan bothers about the diverse public perception about him or the lack of it. Salman does his job of being a bankable Bollywood star and does it pretty well. 

I am very happy that Salman Khan has been exonerated from all charges. The Honourable High Court has pronounced the verdict and we should all accept the judgment in all earnestness. I do too. Salman Khan has a big heart and the society at large needs people like him. God bless him.

Also, there’s absolutely no doubt that he spends a lot of money on charitable causes which has earned him a lot of acclaim and praise. These are facts that nobody can deny. 

This is also a fact that the two blog posts that were taken down were not about Salman Khan. Salman Khan is a part of the story.

Those two blogs, right from the headline to the last line, was about a deceased police constable called Ravindra Patil.

Ravindra Patil, a strappy, young and handsome man died under pitiable circumstances on the floor of a government hospital in Sion, Mumbai after he contracted drug-resistant Tuberculosis. He had developed the disease while he was begging on the streets of Mumbai during the last days of his life.

Ravindra Patil just days before his death

I had found that not many articles were written about him and hence took up the cause.

In my opinion, Ravindra Patil deserved an honourable death. I also feel that Ravindra Patil’s plea to the government and his former colleagues fell on deaf ears.

He deserved a better death. He deserved to be treated better. When a police constable begs on the streets of Mumbai, it is a case where the system has failed. We failed to protect a human life.

Ravindra Patil deserved better.

We failed him.