Think before you speak

"Engineering Students Speak Out On Salman Khan’s Infamous Remarks About 26/11 "

“Think before you speak” — is the word of advice the youngistan has for Salman Khan akka Sallu for his comment on the Mumbai terrorist attack that shook the nation in November 2008.
In a recent interview with a Pakistan television channel, Salman Khan commented that the Pakistani government was not involved in the attacks and the coverage was hyped because the ‘elitist class’ was affected. He also said many such attacks have taken place earlier as well but nobody spoke about it.
GenAhead team caught up with engineering students of Cambridge Institute of Technology, whose opinions were rather divided regarding the actor’s comment.
Prathiksha M P, a 7th semester Electronics and Communication student, said that he is a youth icon. “His words will have influence on the youth. He shouldn’t have expressed his views when the investigations are still on. We respect for his acting skills but not for making statements like this. He is not a common man. He is a celebrity. Words spoken by a celebrity carries lot of weightage,’’ she said.
Echoing her views, Swantika Saha, 7th semester Electrical student, said the actor should not have commented when the investigations are on. “Moreover, it is not only the elite who have lost their lives. Comments on sensitive issues like this can create rift between India and Pakistan,’’ she added.
But Akshay Cariappa, studying 7th semester Information Science, has a different take on the issue. “I feel he is misinterpreted". He actually took side of the common man. He meant that there have been many attacks before, but none got highlighted the way the Mumbai attack got. The blast also took place at the railway station, but it was the hotels that got highlighted,’’ he argued.
However, Naagbharath S, another 7th semester Electronics and Communication student, felt that at the end the fact remains that people have lost their lives.
Even as the students debated about Salman Khan’s comment, some actually went in-depth on the issue. They argued that Kasab, the terrorist who was caught on the site, had admitted that he was trained in Pakistan and committed the crime.
“He (Kasab) has written 7-8 letters to Pakistan saying he is the citizen of that country. He also confessed to the crime,’’ said Samrat S, 7th semester Information Science student.
Coming back to the statement, Cariappa said Salman’s remarks that Pakistan Government was not involved could be true. “If a Pakistani citizen decided to get involved in the crime, how can we blame the Pakistan Government for that? For instance, in a country like India, where you have billion people, it is not possible to keep a track on every individual,’’ Cariappa defended.