Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap was among many actors and voices from the entertainment industry, who reacted to the Jamia protests, and termed the Narendra Modi’s government “fascist” over the police crackdown on the students of Jamia Milia and Aligarh Muslim University following their protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act. The police entered Jamia Millia Islamia University after a protest against the amended Citizenship Act spiralled out of control on Sunday evening.
Forty people, including students, policemen and firemen, were injured as violence erupted during the protest.
“This has gone too far... (I) can’t stay silent any longer. This government is clearly fascist... and it makes me angry to see voices that can actually make a difference stay quiet..” he tweeted on his return to the site.
Actor Rajkummar Rao also reacted and wrote, “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!”
Hollywood superstar John Cusack, known for his films like High Fidelity and Serendipity, also re-tweeted a series of posts on the incident and shared videos from Delhi, posting, “Reports from Delhi are it was a war zone last night - Fascism is not a joke - we use the word with the understanding it’s deadly.”
Filmmaker Sudhir Mishra was another Bollywood personality who posted his opinion, “In 1987 I made a film called Yeh Woh Manzil Toh Nahin on the background of student politics . Towards the climax the police enter the campus and brutally beat up the students . Nothing has changed . Terrible that now we know where the flowers gone . Crushed !”
Lipstick Under My Burkha director Alankrita Shrivastava wrote about her personal experience studying at Jamia, “It is where I trained to be a filmmaker, where I met my best friends for life. It is the place that gave me hope and encouragement when I was a confused young girl trying to navigate my way through life. I have such fond memories. But today...Today my heart is bleeding for the students of Jamia who have been mercilessly attacked on campus. This is wrong and cruel at every level. I stand in solidarity with the bravehearts of Jamia. I am praying for the students who are injured and fighting for their lives. Recover because we need you to live. India needs it's students. Brave and fearless students are the future of the country. They are the only hope."
Actors Konkona Sen Sharma, Richa Chhadda, Soni Razdan, Swara Bhaskar were some of the others to voice out against the police brutality.
Meanwhile, Akshay Kumar courted controversy, when he distanced himself from a post on Twitter that made fun of Delhi police’s crackdown on the students of Jamia Milia. Akshay said he had accidentally liked the tweet with the caption,”Badhai Ho... Jamia me Azaadi mili hai”. The user had posted a video of showing students running away from police personnel.
“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,” the actor said.
After his response, #CanadianKumar started trending on Twitter with many criticising the actor for liking the tweet that praised police crackdown on students.
