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Pooja Bhatt, Anubhav Sinha and others question Bollywood's silence on JNU

While they questioned police inaction and the alleged role of the Union government in the violence, they also asked why their fraternity was not speaking up.

Written by : TNM Staff

The violence in Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University by a masked mob on Sunday evening has sent shockwaves across the country. Several have condemned the incident after horrific images of the attack began doing the rounds on social media. The alleged inaction on part of the Delhi police has also been questioned.

While most celebrities from Bollywood kept mum as usual, a few voiced their anger and condemnation of the incident. They also expressed dissent and questioned the role of the BJP-led Union government. Importantly, they also called out members of their industry for not speaking out against the attacks on students.

Filmmaker and producer Pooja Bhatt put out a stinging tweet for members of the Hindi film industry who'd supposedly been invited for a dinner on Sunday with Union Minister Piyush Goyal, to gather support for the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). According to Huffington Post, Karan Johar, Farhan Akhtar, Kabir Khan, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Ritesh Sidhwani and others received an invite. There is no confirmation yet on who all attended, though Karan Johar and Farhan Akhtar reportedly skipped the meeting.

Pooja Bhatt said that she hoped those who had attended the dinner questioned the government on the violence being unleashed, or at least eaten some "humble pie".

Previously, several A-list stars of Bollywood like Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Vicky Kaushal, Ayushmann Khurranna, Karan Johar, Alia Bhatt, and others had been photographed with PM Modi, at a meeting organised to discuss how the entertainment industry can contribute to nation-building.

Actor Swara Bhasker, who has been a vocal critic of the current government, put out a video appeal on Twitter, asking the citizens in Delhi to go to the JNU campus and pressure the Delhi police to act against the goons. Swara's mother, Ira Bhaskar, is a professor of Cinema Studies at JNU, and her parents live on campus.

The actor also expressed her gratitude later to those who went to the campus to protest, and the media for covering the violence. She also pointed out that the university has been the target of a vilification campaign for three years now.

Sonam Kapoor Ahuja tweeted about the violence in JNU, calling it shocking, disgusting, and cowardly.

Taapsee Pannu, who has been increasingly vocal about the political situation in the country after the CAA was passed, also condemned the violence and called it "irreparable damage".

Twinkle Khanna, whose husband Akshay Kumar has been making 'nationalistic' movies in line with the BJP's politics, and who also interviewed PM Modi before the 2019 elections, tweeted that cows seem to be getting more protection in India than students. She said that people can't be oppressed with violence.

Dia Mirza questioned the Delhi police's inaction, saying "enough is enough".

Kriti Sanon called what was happening in JNU inhuman.

Rajkummar Rao was among the few male stars from Bollywood to post a reaction.

Among directors, Anurag Kashyap, Anubhav Sinha, and Neeraj Ghaywan have posted several tweets about the violence.

Anurag Kashyap tagged PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, accusing them of being the real "tukde tukde" gang breaking up the country – referring to the euphemism that supporters of right-wing politics have been using to brand dissenters as anti-national and seditious.

Apart from condemning the violence and questioning the government's inaction, Anubhav Sinha posted angry tweets about the silence from Bollywood.

In the southern film industries, Siddharth, Nivin Pauly, Prakash Raj are among the few who've been tweeting about the events at JNU. Pa Ranjith has retweeted several tweets about JNU, including Swara Bhasker's video.

Anil Kapoor and Aditya Roy Kapoor also condemned the violence at a film promo event when they were asked about the violence in JNU. 

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