Actor Sonam Kapoor penned an emotional post after the violence on the campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University on Sunday night. She took to Instagram to write a candid note on how she saw the world.
She wrote: “Very rarely do I get into politics on social media because my first thought is who really cares what I think? Am I equipped to give an opinion on a public platform about things that I may barely understand? But now I have to say that I know our generation and when we look back I’m afraid we may be remembered for things we didn’t stand for. I know this is not who we are. This is not what we believe. So then I guess for those afraid to speak up fearing they may make a mistake, this is the only way to use your voice. To say, I don’t know everything and there may be things that i do not understand. But I know this isn’t right. For everyone who feels pressure to ‘pick a side’ don’t. Say what you feel. Most good people I know react to sincerity with understanding and empathy. Be sincere, use your voice and tell the truth. What’s happening in our country seems alien and unrecognisable. Im not sure how we got here. It’s always been a hidden truth that you may be punished if your opinions are too loud or unpopular. But now it’s there to see. And that scares the shit out of me. My thoughts are with the students at JNU you are so much braver than I could ever be.”Many of the above mentioned personalities turned up at Carter Road, Mumbai for a peaceful protest against the violence at the JNU on Monday. Anubhav Sinha was quoted by PTI as saying: “We are with the students of all the three universities (Aligarh, Jamia and JNU) who were attacked. We want to tell them, we are with them and we will stand for them every time.”
On Sunday night, a group of masked men barged into the university campus and beat up students and teachers, reportedly in the presence of police. The violence has provoked sharp and concerned reaction from many prominent names across Bollywood and political class. Many celebrities including filmmakers Anurag Kashyap, Swara Bhasker, Sudhir Mishra, Vishal Bhardwaj, Rekha Bhardwaj, Anubhav Sinha, Dia Mirza, Rahul Dholakia, Ali Fazal, Neeraj Ghaywan, Reema Kagti, Hansal Mehta, Vikramaditya Motwane, Saurabh Shukla, Rajkumar Gupta, Zoya Akhtar, Taapsee Pannu and Richa Chadha, to name a few, have forcefully voiced their concern over the attack on students.