A movement that is still waiting for its closure

Photo Credit - @sushantsinghrajput

The time had always been divided into two periods: B.C. (Before Christ) and A.D. (anno domini, or the year of our lord). This was changed on 14th June 2020 when the SSR Warriors divided the time into: Before 14th June 2020 and After 14th June 2020.

Everything changed on that date when Sushant Singh Rajput, the Bollywood A list actor died under suspicious circumstances. Before understanding what has changed after 14th June 2020, we also need to understand why everything was changed for his fans and also for others after his death.

We will start with why was he loved so much around the world and why most of the people felt a special connection with him?

HE WAS NOT LIKE ANY OTHER A-LIST SUPERSTAR! PERIOD.

The reasons are below:

1. The majority of the people in India belong to middle-class families and out of them, those who were born in the late ’80s and early ’90s ended up becoming doctors and engineers. They grew up studying science. And many of them studied in coaching institutions to crack entrance test of various competitive examinations like IIT, AIEEE or AIIMS. I have always seen students from Bihar travelling to metropolitan cities for studies and then cracking these competitive examinations and later excels in their jobs.

Wasn’t Sushant’s life similar? A middle-class intelligent science student from Bihar who excelled in his studies, got a great rank in competitive examination and later chose to pursue his passion in Mumbai and ended up becoming one of the great Bollywood actors and made his family proud. He was just like one of us! It was so easy for all of us to relate with him as he was representing every middle-class person; each one of us!

2. Shah Rukh Khan always had a mass fan following. I wrote “had” keeping in mind that I am talking about the time before 14th June 2020. He not only survived but rose in this industry without a Godfather after coming from a middle-class family. We were kids when we saw the transformation of a TV actor becoming an actor/villain and then becoming a superstar. We heard stories of his life and got inspired. When we grew up and became mature, we saw the same journey of Sushant Singh Rajput; from becoming a TV actor to that of a movie star. He was also inspired by SRK and it brought us closer to him.

3. THE SERIAL PAVITRA RISHTA. The majority of the middle-class women were avid daily soaps watcher and these serials became a part of their day-to-day life. He was already a household name and the favourite “Maanav” for the Indian middle-class mothers and wives, much before he came to movies.

4. THE MOVIE M.S. DHONI. Some people became SSR Warrior even without watching most of his movies. The majority of them have only seen his one movie, M.S. Dhoni. Those who don’t follow Bollywood movies especially people from the south have also seen M.S. Dhoni movie. Portraying the role of a real-life hero who is more popular than the reel-life hero is tough but Sushant did it with so much hard work and perfection that everyone could feel the soul of Dhoni in him. His appearance, the body language, his cricketing shots; everything was flawless! People still compare the whole movie scene of the 2011 World Cup Final with the actual match clip and get amazed to see no difference between the two!
After this movie, Dhoni fans became the fans of Sushant and Sushant fans became the fans of Dhoni (people like me)

5. ASTRONOMY AND CODING. The only actor who was smart enough to talk about the importance of coding. He was passionate about Astronomy and Technology that made him unique and different from the other actors who can’t even define photons. His posts reflected the intelligence of a science enthusiast. Unlike other stars who post their pictures with some unrelated quotes found on google, he used his intellectual brain talking about the astronomical phenomenon and posting about his telescope.

6. THE DREAM LIST. People call it a bucket list but we won’t as it wasn’t a materialistic list. His every dream had a purpose to learn and achieve something new in every field. Unlike many, it had nothing to do with money and fame but a list to get inspired! The dreams were like what we have to keep us motivated and to receive success. Despite becoming famous and achieving a lot, he had goals that kept him moving. Not even once he felt that he was whole and had enough!

7. HERO WITH ZERO ATTITUDE. Not even a single ounce of attitude! People who clicked pictures with him, interacted with him knows very well that he never pretended to be a celebrity. A relatable guy next door who greeted people with a wide smile! The only actor who frequently interacted with his fans and replied to their comments on both Twitter and Instagram that too with emojis. Which actor does that without asking for a hashtag “#Ask__”? He never asked for any popularity, a buzz or a PR gimmick to interact with his fans or followers. The only A list actor who replied without any occasion, just randomly to make us happy! Not just this, on several occasions he even donated on behalf of his fans by just responding to their replies. He never wrote a single post telling people that he is helping so and so person (which is the usual PR trend these days followed by the celebrities)

WE CONSIDERED HIM AS ONE OF US! This is why he was different from any other actor!

Now, what changed in these two periods divided by a timestamp of 14th June 2020.

The list of things mentioned above is just a gist and what changed is much bigger than this.

The “Justice for Sushant Singh Rajput” movement is the only revolutionary digital movement started by the common middle-class people. The ordinary middle-class tax-paying citizens have always lived a simple life following the same routine of studying, getting a job and then taking care of their family. These ordinary people who had remained quiet and never displayed their strong opinion on anything before decided to stand up for their very own “Sushant”.

We decided to fight against the richest, influential, deadliest people, actors, directors, politicians, media reporters, doctors, police and every person who tried to hide the truth behind Sushant Singh Rajput’s death.

The various conspiracies and theories on social media led to the “Justice for SSR” movement. It didn’t start in just one day by Sushant Singh Rajput fans who felt connected with the star as he was one of them, but many different people who were not even his fans soon joined this journey that led to the start of this movement.

Being a Shah Rukh Khan fan and that’s what Bollywood meant for me, Sushant was my crush mainly because he was influenced by Shah Rukh Khan and also as he was the only intelligent and intellectual actor in Bollywood. I related closely with his dream list as every year I maintain my wish list and fulfil it. That was a kind of achievement and a self-appreciation for me that I did something meaningful in my life. In spite that he wasn’t “that” important for me, I was shaken when I heard the news of his death. I first read it on a WhatsApp story of an aunt and thought she believed in a hoax as just a few days ago his manager died and maybe, she misinterpreted the news. I then googled it to confirm and there were tears in my eyes. It took me two days to become normal. For two days, I cried like I lost someone close, didn’t feel like eating food and especially after looking at his father’s pictures made me feel miserable. The only question on my mind was “Why would he do that when he was so successful?” There was news that he was boycotted and was not doing well in his career that’s why he took that step. However, just a few months ago I saw his movie “Chichhore” in a multiplex that did a fantastic business so I couldn’t digest that news. Also, when someone who started as an Engineering drop out, then did TV shows and then movies; I couldn’t believe that any kind of failure could affect him so much. His last movie itself taught people that no one is a loser based on their results and having an unsuccessful outcome is not the end of this world! My mind was just not convinced as I had a habit of writing my feelings in my diary since college days and Sushant also used to have personal diaries where he maintained his notes. A person couldn't commit suicide without writing a suicide note! Yes, it’s not at all possible especially when you don’t have any problem. You always tell your close ones the reason for taking such a decision before leaving a permanent void in their lives.

Somewhere in my mind, I couldn’t accept the fact that he committed suicide. “There was something wrong”, I thought. However, despite that thought which was bugging me, I stayed neutral as I was not active or engaged much on Twitter from past few years. By that time, I was using more Instagram. The everyday new hashtags on Sushant Singh Rajput that were trending on Twitter made me curious as to why the die-hard Sushant fans were raising their voices on a digital platform. By then, those voices were raised against the Bollywood that ganged against him which included the names of some famous film critics, some famous actors and directors. Before his death, except the Me-too Allegation that was put up, I wasn’t aware or heard of any such false story or any accusation that was put up by anyone famous on him. During the Me-too movement, he openly shared the whole conversation with Sanjana on a public platform to clear his image. I wasn’t disturbed by it as I knew it was a fake allegation and didn’t think much of it.

Those voices were increasing day by day against some big names and having those names who had previously been accused in other criminal cases, I felt initially that they were just trying to hit in the dark. To be true, I was ignorant like any other ordinary person who didn’t care or bother to know what was going on and was reliant on the newspapers and some Bollywood websites. That’s what we believe in, am I right? It took me few days to read most of the tweets that were spreading those hashtags and the amount of analysis that was done. A whole material was spread on Twitter which had every justified question and reasoning which shook me to the core. The entire perspective of mine in believing the mainstream media was changed.

A guy wearing a red cap running while carrying something with his hands and then coming back empty-handed and holding the stretcher in which Sushant’s body was kept; it was the first thing that was fishy. What was there in his hand and to whom did he give that? The presence of three ambulances for one body and ambulance registered as a goods and carriage vehicle on some famous person’s name as per vehicle registration website. Why was the need of three ambulances for one body? Why he died in a small room which was not his original room? Why was the leaked video of the room had people saying that if this video got leaked, the whole investigation could be questioned? Why the police termed it suicide when there was no suicide note? Why people were coming in and going out freely from a crime scene? Why was he directly taken to a mortuary than to a hospital? Isn’t a doctor supposed to declare him dead and not any third person? Why wasn’t any attempt done to revive the life of a famous public figure by a doctor? Why the bed was changed and the paint was done at the crime location? Why the housemates were allowed to stay in the same house for over a month after his death? Why the pages of his diary were torn? Why did he change 50 sim cards in 7 days? Why was he not protected by the police when his father had already mentioned to a senior police officer that his life might be in danger? Why his post-Morten was done at midnight which was illegal? Why his corona test was not done? Why was his Wikipedia page updated with death information around 8:30 am when his death confirmation came in the afternoon? Why a director posted about Sushant’s death at around 11 am when again as reported, his room was locked?

There are so many questions whose satisfactory answers were not given by the authorities. Moreover, the information that was reported on the media was, in turn, contradicted and proven as false by his fans. The reports that his last searches were related to suicide was contradicted by the fact that he was looking for the properties to start his organic farming business. The reports that he was depressed was contradicted by the professional doctors and the various testimonies of his friends and family members. The report that he used to consume drugs was contradicted by the fact that there were no chats of him mentioning drugs whereas such chats were found of the other people who lived with him in his house. Also, the chats mentioned that he was given drugs without his knowledge. The TV report that he used to smoke on his terrace was again contradicted by zooming the video where the cigarette packet was indeed visible and was an herbal cigarette packet.

More than that, there were contradicting statements given by his flatmates and police. Till now, no one knows who put the body down? Does no one know who saw the body hanging? Does no one know why one of his flatmates chatted to his friend about Sushant when his room was locked? Does no one know where was the duplicate key? No one knows how can a key maker was immediately found during the strict COVID restriction.

When the questions and reports were not enough, the attempt which was done to block and stop the voices around increased the suspicion of the common public. Several attempts were being done like:

1. Not allowing the investigation by a central authority i.e., CBI unless it was being authorized by the honourable Supreme Court.

2. Not allowing the investigation to be done by Bihar police and no support being provided.

3. Quarantining of the Bihar SP in Mumbai who came to investigate Sushant’s case.

4. Attempt to close a TV channel that continuously reported on Sushant’s murder case and kept on highlighting in media that led to CBI investigation on this case. Multiple filing of FIR on the news channel.

5. Frequent media stories mentioning the completion of the CBI investigation with no indicated foul play.

6. Providing protection and privileges to the suspect (accused in the FIR) and support from the media and film industry.

7. Running news stories on leading news channels claiming that SSR Warriors are BOTS who are trending the hashtags.

8. Inciting fear on people by filing FIR’s and arresting ordinary people having Twitter accounts, YouTube channels who were raising voices for Justice of Sushant Singh Rajput.

The SSR Warriors are ordinary middle-class human beings who were happily enjoying watching TV and movies to break their monotonous ordinary routine. It took a shaking incident of 14th June that made them realize that their mission is bigger than living an ordinary life. They decided to fight and raise their voices against the influential and powerful lot of society. They knew that by being anonymous, they would have bigger power to raise their inner voices against the injustice and the evils happening in society. It’s only the middle-class section who are taught since childhood about the values and moral responsibilities. The values and beliefs are deeply rooted in their culture.

Everyone would agree that it’s certainly not easy to trend new hashtags every day continuously for around a year but they did. They did along with their jobs and studies during their free time. They stopped spending any minute on any leisure activities but focused all their time and energy on Social media and especially on Twitter. It became their mission! Right from waking up till their sleeping time, the only thought on their mind has been “Justice for Sushant Singh Rajput”. Sometimes they woke up at night thinking about how cruelly Sushant would have been murdered. It haunted all of them including me; I have woken up 5-6 times at late night thinking about Sushant’s last moments.

It’s important to consider the voices of the people not because they are the public but because they are the qualified public. If the doctors raise questions on the post mortem report and the autopsy not done; if handwriting experts raise questions on the five doctors’ signatures and written date claiming that it is done by one person, it has to be taken seriously. If forensic experts raise questions on the strangulation marks on Sushant’s neck, it has to be questioned. If police officers raise questions on crime scene not been sealed and the pieces of evidence were tempered, it is supposed to be taken seriously. When a Psychiatrist raise question on made up depression stories of Sushant, it had to be taken seriously. If IT professionals raise questions on Wikipedia updating the death time in the morning of 14th when his room was locked, it has to be taken seriously.

There is a phrase that there is more to it than meets the eye but what if that meets the eye is also fishy and no one present at the crime scene could give a logical explanation of things!

The movement was started by Sushant Singh Rajput’s family, friends and fans initially. It was then joined by Bollywood fans who realized that there was something wrong with what happened. Joined by a media channel and its Editor in chief that gave a major boost to the “Justice for SSR” movement. Rest people opened their eyes and got aware when the movement reaches their television sets. It was then no longer limited to Twitter or social media. Joined by ex-RAW officers, Army officers, Politicians, Social Activist, Lawyers, Doctors, Engineers, students; every professional became involved in this movement emotionally. Everyone who understood that wrong and cruel things happened to a beautiful soul; all ended up becoming an SSR Warrior.

The common ordinary SSR Warriors became so important for influential people that a fake research story mentioning that the BOT accounts were created on Twitter to trend hashtags and suit their agenda, was telecasted on the same channels which gave a platform to the accused. This all proves how threatened the influential and rich were by the SSR Warriors. Those real people under the anonymous handles mocked the story and were ready to show their Aadhar card to prove their identity. However, to speak the truth, sometimes it’s important to hide identity! After all, they are all ordinary, common people!

The SSR Warriors on Twitter carries the below responsibilities:

• They raise questions on every suspicious image/video related to Sushant’s death.
• They show some valid proofs with justification, evidence which you can’t ignore.
• They discuss on platforms like YouTube, Twitter, WhatsApp and telegram.
• They share theories related to Sushant’s death.
• They keep a track of the fluctuating activities on Sushant’s social media accounts.
• They organize protests on and off the field.
• They keep everyone motivated with digital protests and share Sushant’s old quotes and posts.
• They select and trend daily hashtags.
• Under anonymous handles, they entertain and keep our mood happy when patience takes a toll!

Few SSR Warriors who are IT professionals did create few technology-related developments for Sushant to keep his dreams alive and created his website. SSR Warriors came alone and were supported by Advocates, politicians, activists, bloggers, YouTubers, nationalist journalists and nationalist media houses. Most of them faced threats and even arrests but they kept themselves focused on their mission. It’s all because of the power and energy of Lord Shiva bestowed on every one of us through Sushant Singh Rajput.

In spite of the PR attacks and continuous belittling by the film stars, politicians in power, some media houses and journalists, the emotional SSR Warriors kept going for Sushant Singh Rajput. Some of them still don’t believe that they are real; some of them still thinks that they are BOTS. Does it bother them? No as they proudly call themselves as SSR BOTS – The BOTS that SSR created before leaving the human body and before leaving the earth. He gave the responsibility of his dreams, his mission, his purpose to each one of us. Some people say that he wanted to expose the truth of Bollywood which even by making Sushant silent, came out in open! All the Bollywood fans became SSR Warriors and are boycotting Bollywood now.

They are no longer fans of movie actors or directors but of Majors, Generals, Nationalist journalists, Advocates etc. The name of Sushant Singh Rajput in the movie Raabta was “Shiv” and then he did a movie on Kedarnath. A devotee of Lord Shiva, his entire life purpose ended by making us all capable of fighting against the powerful and evil demons. Since one God is no longer enough to fight in this Kalyug, we all have to fight it together for Sushant. The entire strength of SSR Warriors come from Lord Shiva and Sushant himself.

We shall not stop and continue fighting for the Justice of Sushant Singh Rajput till justice is received and we receive a closure! – SSR Warriors.