Bollywood Extends Support To Jamia And AMU, Calls Out Colleagues For Staying Quiet

As protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act intensified, Assam and the North-Eastern states spearheaded the movement with New Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University joining hands with these states and standing in solidarity.

Over the weekend, students of Jamia and AMU were brutally attacked by the police, who stormed into their hostels and beat them up. In Jamia, the police barged into the library and released tear gas inside.

The situation is grim, with a number of students from both the institutions severely injured. The whole country is protesting against the violent clampdown on students who were peacefully protesting.

The Bollywood film fraternity also came out in support of the students and raised their voice against the injustice. Actors like Sidharth Malhotra, Manoj Bajpayee, Huma Qureshi and many others came out in support of the students:

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

https://twitter.com/humasqureshi/status/1206786845910155264

pic.twitter.com/rI2BOw5TBf

— Riteish Deshmukh (@Riteishd) December 16, 2019

There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.
With the students and their democratic rights to protest ! I condemn violence against protesting students!!!!!

— manoj bajpayee (@BajpayeeManoj) December 16, 2019

This has gone too far.. 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 ..

— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) December 16, 2019

Actors Call Out Colleagues

While voices were raised in support, many called out colleagues who had chosen not to speak up. Actress Sayani Gupta was the first to bring the issue to the fore, followed by actor Ali Fazal.

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

Its funny,i felt hey ali lets play it safe all these years. And now i cant. a lot of my colleagues may not speak up at all.But i pray we all realise there is no job no career above humanity. socho, aur time kam hai toh act fast.irrespective of your political ideologies right now

— Ali Fazal M / میر علی فضل / अली (@alifazal9) December 16, 2019

Actors Vicky Kaushal and Ayushmann Khurrana decided to speak up and voiced their opinions on Twitter after the backlash they faced for not doing so earlier.

https://twitter.com/vickykaushal09/status/1206608718508515328?s=20

https://twitter.com/ayushmannk/status/1206561046351302658?s=20

While netizens are calling out a number of celebrities for staying quiet on a national issue, it is important that we recognize those who are speaking up.

Also Read: As India Burns, Students Unite Across The Country In Support Of Jamia, AMU Students