Big names stay quiet, but many Bollywood celebrities speak up for citizenship law protesters
'India is burning. One can't be mute anymore.'
The Citizenship Amendment Act has sparked protests across India. On Sunday, the police cracked down violently on students protesting against the new law at Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia University and Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh Muslim University. In protest against the crackdown at Jamia Millia, students and ordinary citizens from across the city demonstrated outside the Delhi police’s headquarters.
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ContributeTo show solidarity with the protesters and to condemn the police’s brutality, several Bollywood celebrities made statements on social media. Most of the big names – the three Khans, for one – have stayed quiet.
Here’s what some of the prominent celebrities who spoke out had to say.
Anurag Kashyap
The director and producer took to Twitter this morning to express his displeasure with the government, which he denounced as “fascist”.
Swara Bhasker
Soon after the news emerged of the crackdown in Jamia, the actor tweeted about it, describing the police violence as “shocking and shameful”.
She had previously expressed solidarity with students of the Aligarh Muslim University protesting against the law.
Mahesh Bhatt
The director and producer on Sunday took a pledge not to support the Citizenship Amendment Act, India Today reported.
Konkona Sensharma
After the police brutality in Jamia, the actress expressed her support for the students.
Pooja Bhatt
The filmmaker tweeted that she couldn’t stay quiet anymore because “India is burning”.
Urmila Matondkar
Commenting on a video from the Jamia posted by NDTV, the actress and politician said the wounds inflicted by the violence over the citizenship law “won’t heal for a long time to come”.
She had previously expressed her displease with the Citizenship Bill, arguing that it had been brought to “serve a petty political goals”.
Richa Chadha
Commenting on a Jamia student speaking about the police violence, the actor described it as “heartbreaking”.
Vir Das
The actor and comedian voiced his opinion on the shut down of internet services in some parts of the country. “If you’re looking for non-violent discourse and debate,” he advised the government, “quit shutting down the internet.”
Vishal Dadlani
The playback singer and host of the singing reality show Indian Idol remarked about the Jamia violence: “If this doesn’t boil your blood, it’s not blood but water.”
Anubhav Sinha
After students and ordinary citizens started protesting at the Delhi police headquarters, the filmmaker tweeted, “When no one has the answers, students do. Look at history worldwide.”
Sinha had earlier tweeted, “Dear Indian Muslims…this too shall pass. You have shown exemplary patience past few years and you should be proud of it. I am…”
Kubbra Sait
The actress questioned why the prime minister had not issued a statement on the Jamia situation, describing his silence as being “deafening”.
Other notable Bollywood people who expressed their solidarity with the protesters and concern over the citizenship law include Neeraj Ghaywan, Sayani Gupta, Apurva Israni, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Ali Faizal, Raghu Ram, Manoj Bajpayee, Rajkummar Rao, Ayushmann Khurrana, Riteish Deshmukh, and Dia Mirza.
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