Capitalist, rich nations of the west have been long accustomed to philanthropy due to the excessive wealth some accumulate over time. Today, regardless of the political ideology of a nation, people look up to the wealthiest in their society with an expectation and, often judge millionaires based on their philanthropic work.
Unarguably, philanthropy has evolved, overlapping charity in function and purpose. With rising internet technology, celebrity endorsement, and taking cues from the corporate world, the noble deed of charity and philanthropy is finely structured and systematized almost business-like entity that has vision and goals for their non-profit organization along with work for the public good. The evolution of how the rich give back to society in the modern world sometimes draws criticism too. What makes people criticize such a virtuous deed?
A hard-hitting quote we recently came across that resonates with a good portion (not all) of society is; “When you help the needy, leave your camera behind at home” This probably stems from the perception and expectation of age-old selfless and anonymous contribution towards society (like Batman). However, being public about your good deeds (like Harvey Dent) would inspire others. Perhaps, this is what Mr. Sonu Sood envisions to achieve with his admirable humanitarian work in the past year, under the constant purview of media and the public alike. In this brief article, I outline three Indian celebrities and their style of humanitarian work.
On 5th February 1996, the Mumbai police conducted a raid in the Kamathipura’s red-light area and rescued 456 survivors of sex trafficking between the ages of 14 and 30. Of the 456 rescued women, 128 were from Nepal. Unfortunately, these women didn’t have any citizenship proof to initiate official homecoming, and the Nepalese government had anxieties about taking them back. Thus, with no financial support from their own country, the fate of rescued Nepali women dangled on the red tape of two neighboring countries. When Mr. Sunil Shetty learned about the news, he decided to help by not only arranging a flight but also buying the flight tickets for all 128 Nepali women. It is worth noting that in the 90s, India's aviation industry was yet to democratize for the middle class making it unfeasible for them to travel by air back then.
Despite being instrumental and aiding in getting the rescued Nepali women home safely, Mr. Shetty never shared it publicly and made conscious efforts to keep the rescue mission confidential for the safety of survivor women. After 25 years, this information finally became public in July 2020 when a short documentary about the human trafficking menace in Nepal was aired by Vice. It was later acknowledged by Mr. Sunil Shetty on a TV program but, he credited Mumbai police and an NGO headed by his mother-in-law’s, Mr. Naresh Goyal’s Jet Airways and, Mr. Bal Thackrey at that time all played a major role. It is hard to say if this was the only humanitarian work by him as he does not prefer to publicize his deeds.
He is one of the most recognized and popular actors in Indian cinema with a reputation for being on the other side of civil society until the early 2000s. Over the years, he has faced serious accusations of domestic violence, links with the underworld, and unprofessionalism with no serious consequence. Even trials for criminal cases under the Indian Penal Code did not see any harsh judgment nor dented his popularity. Any other actor with just one mistake fears the end of their career, and there have been many such cases in the industry. So how did Salman Khan, despite such a bad reputation manage to stay ahead in his career and popularity? The answer probably is, by simply Being Human.
Many unverified mentions, noticeably the most recent one was by Mr. Abhinav Kashyap (Director of Dabangg) claiming Being Human was the brainchild of Mr. Salim Khan, father of Mr. Salman Khan to improve his son's image especially during the then-ongoing trial of the famous hit-and-run case in 2007. The first and foremost attempt was with an exhibition of Salman's paintings in Dubai positioning him as an artist, it was followed by a show of his clothesline at a fashion show in Mumbai along with charitable and humanitarian deeds in under a year, all by the name - Being Human. Undeniably, the Being Human Foundation has taken great steps for helping the underprivileged in society. The efforts have been lauded by his fans and critics alike and served as a ‘Get Out of Jail Free card’ just like in Monopoly for minor controversies since his social media alter ego's name is humbly suggestive. The essence of this strategic brand name (refer 3rd tweet) was again used by Mr. Salim Khan again when a controversy erupted for Mr. Salman Khan comparing his after-effects of a rigorous workout during the movie Sultan to that of a raped woman.
[Link to series of tweets made by Salim Khan from his official Twitter handle apologizing on behalf of Salman Khan due to massive uproar]
Unlike Mr. Shetty, Salman does not stay anonymous with his humanitarian deeds. In fact, he leverages his popularity in the industry to propel his work for the underprivileged of society which in turn adds compassion to his otherwise not-so-civil reputation.
No Indian would be able to forget the collateral damage in the aftermath of the nationwide lockdown between March to May of 2020 to contain the spreading of the novel coronavirus leaked from China, especially extreme hardships faced by migrant workers in states like Maharashtra and UT of Delhi. With no income and no means of transport, thousands of migrant workers were left with no choice but to walk up to their hometown. It was distressing to many, but one man rose up in the crisis.
There is no publicly available data nor a date mentioned on their official website either, for when Sood Charity Foundation was set up, instead below is quoted from his about us page.
Sood Charity Foundation is an NGO founded by Actor and Philanthropist, Sonu Sood. He has become a household name and a support system for countless families during the Pandemic. His dedication towards the common man propelled him to start various initiatives to help people of all stature. He is passionately leading a dedicated team with a strong vision to continue to serve the masses across the country through his humanitarian endeavours. This includes providing state-of-the-art healthcare, education, employment, and technology advancements. With the help of Sood Charity Foundation, he wishes to initiate a movement that encourages people to join hands towards serving humanity. Sood Charity Foundation has helped thousands of people across the world. The constant efforts of this organization is to raise awareness and provide care for those in need.
Ever since the migrant crisis, Mr. Sood, under the umbrella of his charity foundation, has continued to facilitate and financially aid the needy and sufferers of the current pandemic. From arranging transport for migrant workers to return to their home towns during the first wave to procuring medical supply in the second wave, the whole nation has been witness to his humanitarian work in this crisis thanks to his minute-by-minute update on social media platforms. Indian media has also been positively covering and reporting his work for over a year making him a humanitarian brand many have started to look up to.
Unlike Mr. Shetty and Mr. Khan, Mr. Sood neither preferred to stay anonymous nor has a reputation to improve. He is simply a man who has been helping and hoping to inspire others to join in these grim times of need. The core basis of the humanitarian brand of Mr. Sood has been continuous social media updates. His Twitter handle has more than 12K tweets, the Facebook page has unlimited posts and, Instagram has more than 10 million followers, the majority of which is about Mr. Sood sharing praises from supposed people he has helped. However, when a good chunk of these posts was scrutinized, instances of people calling him out for misleading/unverified/false claims also exists. Few examples below:
The above link is for a publicly available tweet from Umey Abhishek Rajput who was assured help from Mr. Sonu Sood directly. However, even after 12 hours, there was no help and the person continues to seek help from others while Mr. Sonu Sood has stopped responding to his plea. [One on the tweet, click on 1 Quote Tweet to see Sonu Sood's response]
Another recent instance, from May 9, 2021. A Twitter used named Social Worker Manoj tweeted at 1:04 AM by tagging Sonu Sood and requesting a bed for a patient. The actor responded to the tweet in the morning at 9 AM by claiming that through his organization, the patient had found the bed. However, a vigilant Twitter user pointed out that the patient had passed away in the night at 3 am and that they had confirmed the same by talking to the patient’s family.
[Click on the pic below to open on Twitter directly and see the entire conversation where users are calling out Mr. Sonu Sood for fake help and taking credit]
There are numerous such instances but tangled and lost under the massive volume of 12K tweets and retweets. Another aspect of Mr. Sood's online conduct that has now people curious, is his self patting after every contribution regardless of verified/unverified status and unhesitatingly projecting himself as a messiah. One such post shared by him on Facebook was later deleted when faced with backlash (pic)
Without a doubt, our country is facing extreme adversity. In such grim times, any help from a celebrity, politician, industrialist, NGO, or simply our neighbors deserves gratitude. How a person reacts to such overwhelming gratitude tells a lot about their character.
As I said at the beginning of this article, - “...people often judge millionaires based on their media-hyped philanthropic work”
Just this week, Mr. Amitabh Bacchan's Twitter timeline was filled with users shaming him for not doing anything in these tragic times. They probably came to this conclusion as he had not tweeted about any of his contributions. The abuse grew to 100s of tweets and posts every day prompting him to eventually share a list of donations already made along with contributions pledged to various NGOs in the tunes of over 2 crores. He added it was embarrassing for him to have publicized his humanitarian deeds in such times, as he felt it was not necessary.
Most of our religious institutions like ISCKON & Swaminarayan Temples, film industry personalities like Suresh Oberoi and Ronnie Screwvala, and even non-celebrity people we know around us that we call neighbors and friends have done more than we could have asked for. We and our country are fighting this together, it's not just one person or one government.
Summary: Sunil Shetty, Salman Khan, and in this Pandemic, of course, Sonu Sood is not the only person helping the needy. Each of them has a different approach on how to help society as long as they don't use the poor for their (undisclosed) agenda. No approach is right or wrong. It's just a different style.
P.S. Many of the industrialists (including Sir. Ratan Tata) have contributed more than we could imagine but none of them posed themselves as a messiah on their social media handles, every hour, every day. Honestly, they don't have time for it.
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