Salman's being a Muslim had b****r all to do with his sentencing. He could have got permission to hunt Nilgai or boar from the local DFO and would not have had any trouble whatsoever as long as the land he hunted on was approved for a crop protection permit. FYI a Hindu was sentenced for shooting a tiger to more than 10 years rigorous imprisonment just two months earlier.

The fact is that Salman Khan went onto territory belonging to the Bishnoi tribe and hunted there illegally. Poaching is a crime that invites severe penalties in India and the judge in question threw the book at him. You either obey the law (however unjust it may seem) or invite the consequences like he did.