The Danger of Forgetting: Why Society Must Stop Glorifying Controversial Figures

We live in a time where image matters more than integrity. Where the crimes of yesterday are buried under the glitter of today’s reels and red carpets. Where those once accused of violence, exploitation, or serious misconduct are now the faces of fashion shows, television panels, and trending social media content.

What does this say about us as a society?

It says we are quick to forget, and even quicker to forgive — not because we are noble, but because we are lazy with the truth. This culture of forgetting is not healing. It is enabling. And it is destroying the very idea of justice, accountability, and public morality.

Forgetting Fuels Impunity

When society forgets, it frees the accused from the burden of reflection and repentance. It becomes easier to stage a comeback than to commit to change. With enough screen time, controversy turns into charisma and public memory is replaced by curated content.

Forgetfulness becomes dangerous when it whitewashes what should never have been ignored. Because forgetting does not mean justice has been served. It only means justice has been silenced.

This leads to impunity, the freedom to do wrong without consequence. The more we celebrate those whose wrongdoings are unresolved, the more we tell the world that fame can erase the past. That truth does not matter if you are entertaining. That a good PR team is more powerful than a good character.

And that is a terrifying lesson for the next generation to absorb.

What About False Allegations?

This is an important and valid question. False allegations do exist, and they can ruin innocent lives. That is why we must not replace truth with assumptions, or let outrage blind our sense of justice.

But acknowledging the existence of false allegations does not mean we abandon caution. It does not mean we turn every accused individual into a misunderstood hero, especially before truth has had a chance to unfold.

We can trust. We can support. We can give people space and time to recover. But glorification is not the same as compassion.

Trust should be earned. Respect should be restored gradually. And idolisation should never be automatic.

Everyone Deserves a Chance — But Not a Platform

There is a difference between giving someone a second chance and handing them a stage.

A person who has faced serious allegations or has harmed others, even if they claim to have changed, should focus on self-repair, reflection, and responsible living. That work is personal. That journey is private. It is not for the audience to manage or validate.

Society does not owe anyone fame.

The individual must take responsibility for their growth. And until that growth is visible, consistent, and sincere, they should not be celebrated. They should not become icons. They should not be marketed as role models for the youth.

It is not about cruelty. It is about conscience.

The Islamic View: Truth, Repentance, and Responsibility

Islam teaches a powerful balance between mercy and justice. It recognises that people can change. That sincere repentance wipes away sins. That we must avoid exposing others needlessly and avoid suspicion.

But Islam also teaches accountability.

When a wrong was public, the path to redemption must involve public clarity. When someone caused harm, it is not enough to simply rebrand. There must be remorse, repair, and a long-term change in behaviour.

Forgiveness in Islam is a virtue. But forgetting in the name of convenience is not.

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) taught us to conceal private faults, but also warned the believers not to be fooled repeatedly. Islam is not naive. It allows us to hope for the best but prepare for the reality. And it never commands us to elevate those whose integrity is still under question.

Repentance is between the individual and Allah. It is a sacred matter. But public influence comes with public scrutiny. That is not injustice. That is moral responsibility.

Truth Has Its Own Timing and Grace

The truth does not need us to force it. It unfolds when it is meant to. The role of society is not to control or rush this process. It is to make space for truth to emerge without interference.

Let those accused work on their lives, character, and purpose. Let them live away from cameras if they are truly committed to change. Let them earn back respect through humility and service, not social media campaigns and reality shows.

Let us remember that every society reflects what it celebrates. If we celebrate people before they are ready, we build a culture where sincerity is replaced by strategy, and the journey of repentance is replaced by the illusion of redemption.

From Prison to Politics: When Resistance Is Labelled Crime

While we call for caution and accountability, we must also be brave enough to question the misuse of power. In India and across the world, there are numerous examples of young Muslim activists, students, and thinkers who have been labelled anti-national, charged under draconian laws, and jailed without trial — simply because they dared to speak the truth.

These are not entertainers. They are not accused of personal abuse or corruption. They are not glorified for vulgarity or violence. They are imprisoned for resistance. For articulation. For political clarity. For daring to remind the majority that justice cannot be selective.

Many of them are scholars, lawyers, orators, historians, and socially committed citizens. And some of them, from within prison walls, wish to participate in elections — to use democratic means to fight the very system that wronged them.

Is this glorification? No. This is resilience.

The system may call them terrorists. But the people, especially the oppressed among them, see through that narrative. They remember that Yusuf (peace be upon him) was imprisoned unjustly, yet emerged with greater wisdom and honour. They know that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and many companions were called madmen, rebels, liars — yet history tells another story.

Supporting such individuals is not blind hero-worship. It is not glorifying guilt. It is standing with someone who has not been given a fair trial but has consistently stood for truth, dignity, and justice.

Let us be clear. We do not support everyone who is jailed. We support those whose character, track record, and resistance are rooted in honesty and wisdom. If their journey is one of sincere struggle, then their democratic participation is not glorification — it is reclamation.

Final Reflection

This world doesn’t need more celebrities. It needs more conscience. It doesn’t need image managers. It needs memory-keepers.

Let those who have hurt others step away from the spotlight and do the hard, quiet work of repair.

Let those accused, whether guilty or not, walk the road of truth with dignity and patience.

Let fame not become a shortcut to redemption.

Let us stop confusing trending faces with trustworthy voices.

Because a society that celebrates the shameless and silences the sincere is not a society that can survive with its soul intact.

And when it comes to those who are imprisoned not for crimes but for courage, not for harm but for honesty, not for violence but for truth — then the silence of the world becomes complicity. These are not criminals. These are the voices that history will one day honour, if not today, then when the fog of fear has lifted.

Support for such voices is not glorification. It is correction. It is justice. It is a refusal to surrender the narrative to those who twist truth into treason.

We must stop doing the dirty work of power. We must stop helping the guilty look clean and the innocent look dangerous. We must stop handing over our memory to those who manipulate our emotions for ratings, votes, and viral success.

Truth does not need lights and stages. It needs people who will not forget.

So forgive, if you believe it is time. But never forget, because forgetting is how cycles of harm continue. Forgetting is how the powerful remain powerful. Forgetting is how generations lose their direction.

And when we forget, we become part of the injustice — not by action, but by absence. Not by words, but by silence.

Let this society remember again.

Let us raise the right voices.

Let us protect truth not just with laws, but with loyalty.

Let us be a people who do not rush to judge, but do not sleep through injustice either.

Because the world does not need more noise. It needs more memory. It needs people who choose justice even when it is inconvenient. People who remember not only the pain, but the patience. Not only the crime, but the silence that allowed it. And not only the accused, but the ones who were never allowed to speak.

That is the real resistance. That is the real reform. That is the society we must fight for.

The world does not need more celebrities. It needs more truth. It does not need to manufacture idols out of confusion. It needs to hold space for clarity.

Forgive, yes. That is a strength. But forget? No. Not when forgetting is the very thing that allows harm to repeat itself.

A just society is not one that is always harsh. It is one that is honest. Honest enough to wait. Honest enough to observe. Honest enough to say — not yet.

Let the individual do the work. Let the truth take its course. And let society stop doing the dirty work of whitewashing what it does not understand.

Because forgetting is not kindness. It is often cowardice. And it is how injustice learns to dress itself in glamour.

And when those who are innocent are buried under falsehood, we do not call it glorification to support them. We call it justice. We call it memory. We call it resistance.