Several celebrities have come out in support of the youth-led protests that have swept Delhi since July 20, condemning the police crackdown on demonstrators and backing the students’ demands for accountability and education reforms.
The ‘Sansad Chalo’ march, led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), drew tens of thousands of protesters demanding the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan and comprehensive reforms to India’s education system. The movement grew out of the NEET-UG paper leak and examination cancellation, which allegedly drove at least 20 students to suicide, and gathered further momentum after climate activist Sonam Wangchuk was forcefully removed while on a 20-day hunger strike in solidarity with the students.
The protest, however, was met with an unprecedented police crackdown. Police used lathi-charge, tear gas, pellet guns and shock batons against demonstrators, leaving hundreds injured and hospitalised and drawing global condemnation.
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The public show of solidarity from actors, filmmakers, musicians and other public figures stands out at a time when India’s entertainment industry has often been criticised for remaining silent during moments of political upheaval and national crises. While many of the country’s biggest celebrities have chosen not to comment, several others have publicly backed the youth protesters—some by joining demonstrations in person and others through messages on social media.
Shabana Azmi: ‘The Spark will Turn into a Flame’
Among the most prominent and active supporters was actor Shabana Azmi. Joining the protest on July 19, a day prior to the march, she met CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke and extended support to the students on hunger strike.
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She lauded the fasting students’ bravery and thanked Wangchuk for his leadership. “The spark which has been lit will not go out. Even if you put these protesters in jail today, you cannot keep them in jail forever. This spark has now flared up and will turn into a roaring flame,” she had said.
Azmi was also tear gassed along with the other protesters and appeared seemingly ill; however, she kept posting updates of the protest via her Instagram page. Sharing a video while being bundled up inside a truck with other protesters, she shared a couplet by her father and acclaimed poet, Kaifi Azmi, exalting the students’ courage.
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Prakash Raj: ‘The World Is Watching’
Alongside Azmi in the truck was actor, film director, and activist Prakash Raj. A vocal critic of the ruling party, Raj had met a fasting Wangchuk on July 11. “In solidarity with the youngsters of my country at #JantarMantar,” he wrote on his Instagram page while sharing photos from the hunger strike.
He reached Jantar Mantar on July 19, spent the night with the demonstrators and joined the ‘Chalo Sansad’ march the next day. He posted multiple updates from the protest, extending full solidarity with the demonstrators and displaying the extent of police clampdown.
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Asked about the silence of a majority of Bollywood stars on issues plaguing the country, Raj told Peek TV from the protest site, “People who speak, the world is watching…who will stand by the people. Simple…Now you know who is what. Such movements show who has got the integrity, who will stand for the people. Who am I to say? I can talk to myself. People have great voices, great actors…I wish they used it for this. They have not, people will judge. When history will be written tomorrow, they may forgive who might have made the mistake but they will never forgive who was silent.”
Amol Parashar: ‘I Cried Myself To Sleep Last Night’
Another actor who physically joined the stir on July 20 was Amol Parashar. “I cried myself to sleep last night,” he wrote in a heartfelt note on his Instagram page, recalling his experience of the protest turning violent as police began cracking down on the peaceful protesters.
Explaining that he quietly joined the protest without informing anyone because he was deeply moved by the students’ messages to him asking him to join the protest, he condemned the police attacks. “The state decided that it had had enough of these foreign influenced children and decided to break their heads, so these ideas could escape from the hole in their skull. Young people bleeding on the road, their friends crying for help. Some just shocked and in disbelief, asking the cops “hum aapke bacche nahi hain kya?”. They came asking for better education, they left with a harsh lesson: no one cares about you,” he wrote in his post.
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Naseeruddin Shah: ‘Reminds me of American ICE agents’
While a fake video purporting actor Naseeruddin Shah’s presence at the Jantar Mantar protest, along with his two sons, Vivaan and Imaad Shah, was being widely circulated on social media, Shah took to Instagram on July 22, voicing his support for the students and condemning the police brutality.
ALSO READ: Old video from Mumbai falsely circulated as Naseeruddin Shah joining Jantar Mantar stir
In a video statement, a staunch critic of the ruling dispensation, the actor said (translated from Hindi), “If an uneducated person runs this country, his heart will want that the entire country becomes uneducated, foolish, incompetent, and merciless like him. Right now, my heart is aching and I am also boiling with anger watching how our kids have been treated by these goons who remind me of American ICE agents, wearing masks and carrying sticks…Think about your own children sometimes and think that you will get your due one day for sure…”
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Arijit Singh: ‘Aren’t You Ashamed?’
Singer Arijit Singh, who seldom speaks up on social issues and is widely known to remain off the grid, strongly criticised the police brutality via his private account.
Subsequently, a user commented on Singh’s post that he has now lost all respect for the artist. Singh responded assertively, “I am not worried about the fact that somebody respects me or not. I am also not bothered about anyone’s opinion as everyone have their own. you being a fan of me doesn’t compel me to say sugarcoated words to you. but I apologise to you as a person…It’s just that I am angry. Forgive me to become free. You can delete all my playlist and forget my existence. be happy I genuinely pray for your happiness. but that doesn’t change my opinion.”
Sonakshi Sinha: ‘The Country’s Strength Is In Its Youth’
One of the first and few mainstream Bollywood celebrities to speak out in support of Wangchuk, Sonakshi Sinha lauded his hunger strike in support of the students’ cause. “I cannot stay silent anymore…now whatever has to happen, will happen,” she had said in a video posted on her Instagram page on July 16, while demanding answers from the government. “Why is nobody listening? Nobody cares. Nobody is open for a dialogue…I am not an anti-national, I am a citizen of this country.”
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Later on July 18, Sinha posted another video criticising the forceful removal of Wangchuk from the protest site to Safdarjung Hospital. “What happened with Sonam sir today wasn’t right…No matter what has been going on, they have stayed calm, respectful, and have kept their point forward without violence. We all know the country’s strength is in its youth…Even after all the discomfort, disappointment and difficulties, the way you have held on to your beliefs, hats off to you.”
Sharing visuals of the protest, she condemned the police action. She wrote: “20th July…bohot logon ki haddiyaan tooti aur ek POORE DESH ka dil toota. Yaad rakhna” (20th July…many people suffered broken bones, and an entire nation’s heart was broken. Remember that.)
Shreya Dhanwanthary: ‘Being Brave Now Is The Most Obvious Choice’
Similarly sharing visuals of the youth demonstrators being lathi-charged by Delhi police, film and TV actor Shreya Dhanwanthary wrote on Instagram: “Fight. If you can’t fight, speak up. If you can’t speak up, write. If you can’t write, support. If you can’t support, give company. If you can’t give company, boost morale. If you can’t do anything then atleast don’t stand in the way of those who do.”
The following day, she posted another video on the burden of the speaking up on social issues as a public figure. She said her determination to speak up against injustices has cost her many opportunities and attracted hate, while highlighting how much speaking up matters. “It matters that you are standing on the right side of history…even if you are not present physically or going there and facing police brutality and facing violence at the hands of the those who were sworn to protect you. The government is not India, the ruling party is not India…India is made up you and I and everybody else that is fighting…Being brave now is the most obvious choice,” she said.
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Dia Mirza: ‘Hopeful And Angry’
Bollywood actor Dia Mirza took to Instagram Stories to condemn the police brutality on July 20. “Today has been a day that has revealed many truths. A day thousands of people showed up to mark their protest demanding accountability, transparency and reform for the education system…A day when the forces that are duty bound to protect it’s citizens used brute force on them including women and children in reaction to their peaceful protest. Hopeful and angry,” she wrote.
Further, Mirza expressed disappointment over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s July 23 statement. She highlighted that his statement came 47 days after the protests and hunger strikes began, adding that even now he has said “nothing”. “Nothing can heal the millions of hearts that are broken.”
Anurag Kashyap: ‘The Kids Want Answers’
Echoing his peers’ disappointment over the police brutality, filmmaker and vocal critic of societal injustices, Anurag Kashyap on July 2o wrote on his Instagram post (translated from Hindi), “I never knew that wearing the uniform demanded a bargain with one’s soul, humanity, and conscience. Is there not a single police officer in this country who can stand up and say, ‘I will not obey this order because it is wrong’?”
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The following day, he posted an image of one Honey Singh Dagar, alleging that he was one of the “plain clothes goons” who beat up students, urging audiences to “identify each one of them”. On the same day, he wrote another post stating that the “kids who have come down to the streets” have only seen “Congress-mukt Bharat and they’re tired of it…They want answers.”
Sonu Sood: ‘Not Lathis, Students Needs Hugs’
Usually known for charity work, another mainstream Bollywood actor who has rarely spoken up on socio-political issues in public, Sonu Sood lent his voice to condemn the police crackdown. “Our students don’t need lathis, they need hands that hug them,” he wrote on his Instagram story.
Two Indian men’s national team footballers, Sahal Abdul Samad and Lallianzuala Chhangte, while the former denounced police action against the peaceful protesters, the latter voiced his support for the students’ movement.
Actors Soha Ali Khan, Vijay Varma, Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia D’Souza, Ishaan Khatter, and several others chimed in through their social media handles to extend solidarity to the protesting youth and students.
Besides the celebrities who showed up Jantar Mantar and those who voiced their support through social media posts, several entertainers joined the CJP solidarity protest at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park on July 22, which saw over 2,000 protesters, including Imran Khan, Huma Qureshi and her brother Saqib Saleem, Ayesha Khan (who was detained by Mumbai police at Worli station), comedians Raunaq Rajani and Abish Mathew (both of whom were detained at Kalachowki station), Gurfateh Pirzada, Akasa Singh and Pratibha Ranta.
