ShodhPatra: International Journal of Science and Humanities

Trial by Media: Social Media as the Judge, Jury and Executioner in Megha Majumdar’s A Burning

In the present day world, life without social media has become quite unimaginable. Especially among the young adults, there is an unflinching desire to seek admiration and approval from the hundreds and thousands of people crowding social media. From what they eat to what they wear or even what they think, everything gets showcased in the social media so as to get like, shares and comments. In a way, people have forgotten to think for themselves and get swayed by the opinions projected via social media handles. And this often leads to misjudgement, fed not by reason and legal provisions but by digital outcry. Megha Majumdar’s A Burning projects a cautionary tale of this society where an innocent person is murdered by the State so as to appease the digital mob swayed by misinformation. Social media is not just a platform for connectivity; it can shape public opinion and influence legal outcomes jus t as in the case of Jivan. A casual statement made by Jivan on the facebook timeline propels a legal case against her eventually leading to her execution. Obviously, Jivan’s trial had much to do with State Politics and her status as a minority in India but the role of media in propagating falsehood and thereby swaying public opinion against her needs to be examined thoroughly. Keywords: Trial by media, digital outcry, virality, public conscience, minority status, murder by the State