New Delhi: The recent protests by the students of Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University followed by Delhi Police’s action against students of the two universities has led to nationwide uproar.
Students communities from across the country have condemned the incidents. People are also taking out protest marches against the alleged brutality of the police.
Amid all this, people are also condemning the silence of people from the film and sports fraternity.
In the wake of these demands, Article 15 fame actor Sayani Gupta tweeted a selfie of actors from the Hindi cinema industry with PM Narendra Modi urging them to condemn the “act of police brutality and violence against students”.
On behalf of the students of Jamia & AMU request at least one of you to tweet or message Mr.Modi condemning this act of police brutality and violence against students. The time has come to speak up guys. Yes? No? May be?@RanveerOfficial @karanjohar @ayushmannk @RajkummarRao pic.twitter.com/6l5ky5zbNt
— Sayani Gupta (@sayanigupta) December 15, 2019
Of the 12 actors tagged in the tweet, five issued statements in solidarity with the students.
Actors Vicky Kaushal, Bhumi Pednekar, Rajkummar Rao, Ayushmann Khurrana and Sidharth Malhotra expressed their opinion about the incident on Twitter, while Varun Dhawan tweeted a picture depicting religious harmony.
Rajkumar Rao was the first to openly condemn the violence by the Delhi Police and the act of destruction of public properties.
I strongly condemn the violence that the police have shown in dealing with the students. In a democracy the citizens have the right to peacefully protest.I also condemn any kind of act of destruction of the public properties. Violence is not the solution for anything!
— Rajkummar Rao (@RajkummarRao) December 16, 2019
Soon, Ayushmann Khurana followed and said that he was “deeply disturbed about what the students went through”. He added that “ahimsa should be the tool to express” and asked for people to keep faith in democracy.
This!?? ?? pic.twitter.com/X8qj9sCdEO
— Ayushmann Khurrana (@ayushmannk) December 16, 2019
Vicky Kaushal also said that faith in democracy must not be shaken under any circumstances.
What is happening is not okay. The way it’s happening is not okay. People have every right to peacefully voice their opinion. This violence and disruption is both saddening and concerning as a fellow citizen. In no circumstance, must our faith in democracy be shaken. ??
— Vicky Kaushal (@vickykaushal09) December 16, 2019
Actor Sidharth Malhotra and Bhumi Pednekar also strongly condemned the violence.
My heart goes out to all the students back home in Delhi. In a democracy like ours, its sad to see violence against citizens for voicing their opinion through peaceful protests. There should be no place for violence of any form & intent in our country. I strongly condemn this act
— Sidharth Malhotra (@SidMalhotra) December 16, 2019
Violence is not a tool to make our country better. We are a democracy and we have the power to exercise our fundamental rights in a rightful manner. What the students faced has shaken me and my heart goes out to them and I protest the way the situation was handled.
— bhumi pednekar (@bhumipednekar) December 16, 2019
Varun Dhawan did not issue a statement about the incident but tweeted a picture of four hands joined together with Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Christian written on them with the caption ‘Jai Hind’, possibly trying to send out a message of religious harmony.
?? Jai hind pic.twitter.com/mvDKpj7Z4z
— VarunDhawan (@Varun_dvn) December 17, 2019
Twitter community called out actors Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan too for not speaking up against the violence against students.
Shah Rukh Khan is an alumnus of Jamia Millia University, where violence broke out on Sunday evening. Students later alleged Delhi Police personnel beat them up while the university administration said police had not been given permission to enter the campus.
Dear @iamsrk , your alma mater is under attack. Students brutally beaten up. NOT a word from you.
Everytime attackers from same ideology attacked you, we defended you. But you have failed us
Good luck with your Stockholm Syndrome!
Officially giving up being your biggest fan!
— Aman Wadud (@AmanWadud) December 16, 2019
People urged the three Khans to also raise their voice against the recently passed Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
Shah Rukh – @iamsrk – son of a freedom fighter, alumnus of Jamia
Aamir – @aamir_khan – family of freedom fighters, descendant of Maulana Azad
Salman – @BeingSalmanKhan – Being Human
Indians made them stars. But they are mute when their voice is needed. What are u scared about?
— Srivatsa (@srivatsayb) December 16, 2019
Meanwhile, actor Akshay Kumar, who is known for his pro-govt stance, said he “accidentally” liked a tweet supporting Jamia students. The tweet said, “Congratulations!! Jamia got freedom.”
The actor later clarified that he unliked the tweet and said that there is “no way he supports such acts”.
Regarding the ‘like’ on the tweet of Jamia Milia students, it was by mistake. I was scrolling and accidentally it must have been pressed and when I realised I immediately unliked it as In no way do I support such acts.
— Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) December 16, 2019
Apart from the actors in the selfie, many other members of the Hindi film fraternity including Parineeti Chopra, Dia Mirza, Anubhav Sinha and Anurag Kashyap have expressed their displeasure over the incident.
The much-hyped selfie was taken on 10 January, 2019 when a delegation of actors and directors met PM Modi in Delhi to discuss Bollywood’s participation in nation-building. They also discussed issues faced by the industry, which led to the reduction in GST on film tickets by the government.
Also read: ‘Galat ladke’ sneaked into crowd: Jamia videos show police officer urging students for calm
It sure is democratic to put words in others mouths. Because we all know that the principle of democracy is to NOT respect the fact that all people won’t have the same opinion as yours on an issue, especially one as politically sensitive as this.