With the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) call for nationwide demonstrations on Friday, July 24, condemning the alleged police brutality against Monday’s Chalo Sansad March, the ongoing student protests over NEET exam paper leaks have gained further momentum. Meanwhile, more celebrities, including actor-model Manushi Chhillar and actor Shahid Kapoor, have begun stepping forward to express their views on the protests and the purported heavy-handedness of security personnel towards students.
Manushi Chhillar, who herself once pursued a medical degree, has strongly criticised those who are telling students to “just write it (the exam) again” instead of protesting. Explaining how dispiriting it is, Manushi recalled that she herself had to appear for the All India Pre-Medical Test, which has now been replaced by NEET-UG, twice owing to an alleged paper leak.
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‘Education is biggest equaliser in an unfair world’
In a lengthy post on social media, she noted, “I have always believed that in an unfair world, education becomes the biggest equaliser. Anyone who is saying ‘just write it again’ is missing the point. We have to have sensitivity. I’ve written it twice in 2015 due to a paper leak then as well. It is not just an exam, it represents years of hard work, sleepless nights, sacrifices and aspirations. We then accepted the failure in our system and made peace with the solution provided. Now, a decade later, we expect change.”
Explaining the hardships that go into preparing for each medical entrance exam, she pointed out, “You don’t realise the value of your dream of becoming a doctor till you’re at a coaching centre, where parents have borrowed beyond their means to send their children to study, or those who have spent years together trying to clear the exam, the same years I felt frustrated sitting at home due to a pandemic during my early twenties, facing delays, at a stage where all you want is to do something meaningful and impactful. The belief is simple: education could change everything.”
“This isn’t about being against our country or our institutions. It is about believing they can be better. Every generation has a responsibility to leave behind a stronger system than the one it inherited. I have faith in India. I have faith in our democracy. And I have faith that the strongest solutions are found through dialogue, constitutional processes and mutual respect,” she noted, urging people never to forget that “our youth is our future.”
‘They have the right’
Maintaining that the students of the country have every right to raise concerns and ask questions, actor Shahid Kapoor wrote on social media: “What will happen if the very youth that the education system is made for doesn’t believe in it anymore?”
He continued, “Those for whom this was created have the primary right. They are used to answering questions in exams; today, they are the ones asking the questions. And why shouldn’t they? Just as they write answers every year for the sake of their future, today they are raising a question about that very future. They have the right! The youth of the country. Is the country. And they deserve to believe.”
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Meanwhile, hours after the Delhi University issued an advisory on X (formerly Twitter), urging students and faculty to stay away from the Jantar Mantar protests, actor-director Pooja Bhatt tore into the administration, slamming it for trying to silence them.
Quote-tweeting the university’s post, she wrote, “The students’ safety is more in jeopardy if their voices are suppressed. If we are truly invested in their future, we must support their right to speak out rather than maintain a conspiracy of silence.”
‘They knew about ADHD even before they learned their ABCs’
Commending the Gen Z for achieving what the millennials couldn’t, actor-comedian Anubhav Singh Bassi expressed hope that their concerns are heard and resolved soon. “This isn’t like our generation that carries childhood trauma into youth and the trauma of youth into old age; they aren’t easily manipulated. They have grown up hearing ‘they have rights,’ and they are incredibly sharp. They knew about ADHD even before they learned their ABCs. They don’t give in easily, and they are so creative that they can write a rap in two hours and have a meme ready in ten minutes. We need to move beyond just empathy and sympathy with them; they absolutely loathe apathy. Hope their concerns are addressed,” he wrote on his Instagram stories.
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In a strongly worded social media post, actor Lara Dutta condemned the use of “lathis” against protesters. “You cannot silence the future with lathis. You cannot drown out the questions with cannons of water. You cannot blind and maim courage with tear gas and pellets. This is a generation that does not respond in hate. It does not react in revenge. We educated them so that they may now teach us where we went wrong. We owe them that much,” she noted.
Apologising for her delayed reaction to the ongoing protests, businesswoman and artist Ananya Birla maintained that “the youth of our country has given me the strength.” In a selfie video, she said, “My genuine respect goes out to everyone who has spoken up and protested peacefully. I think violence is not okay at all.”
She added, “I’m really sorry that I’m late in speaking up. I should have done this much earlier. The youth of our country has given me the strength. I think that what is right and just will prevail. I believe in the Constitution of our country. I also think that it is very possible to believe in an institution and not always agree with what that institution may do. And that’s healthy and okay.”
“My heart goes out to everyone who is speaking up and asking to be heard. And I think that’s a right that everybody deserves. Hats off, my respect, my love, my concern. And I really hope that all of this can be solved with a lot of compassion, love, and kindness, and that what is right and just is done. Jai Hind,” Ananya concluded.
