Actors and filmmakers backed the CJP’s Sansad Chalo protest in Delhi and condemned the use of force against peaceful marchers. Their posts turned attention to student anxiety, access to education and demands for accountability.
Actors Bhumi Pednekar, Huma Qureshi and Nandita Das, along with screenwriter Sutapa Sikdar, voiced support for peaceful protesters after the Cockroach Janata Party’s (CJP) ‘Sansad Chalo’ protest in Delhi on Monday. Their reactions came amid visuals of police action against demonstrators, with the film fraternity calling for dialogue and accountability while raising concerns about education, access and systemic issues affecting students.
In a detailed post shared on Instagram, Bhumi Pednekar said violence could not be the answer and urged that the focus remain on the students affected by gaps in the education system.
“Violence is not the answer,” she wrote, referring to the visuals from the day. Bhumi said the country owed it to its youth to ensure that the movement did not turn violent or lose sight of its purpose, adding that democracies were built on dialogue.
Bhumi also called for reform in the education system, listing paper leaks, examination failures, unequal access, teacher shortages and the pressure faced by students as issues that needed to be addressed.
She acknowledged the progress made in the education sector in recent years, including the increase in the number of universities and seats, but said students whose futures had been put at risk deserved answers. “While I may not agree with everything that has been said at the protest, I strongly believe that meaningful dialogue is where reform begins,” she wrote. “This has to remain about our students.”
Actor Huma Qureshi said the visuals from the protest would stay with her “for a very long time”. She said seeing peaceful protesters met with “such brute force and lathis” had left her with “a deep sense of sadness”.
Huma said the situation could have been handled with more patience, listening and dialogue. “People have elected the government and today, we all need to ask questions and expect accountability (sic),” she wrote.
She added that India was a large and diverse country and that while citizens might not agree on every issue, “every citizen deserves to be heard with dignity before force becomes the response”.
Sutapa Sikdar’s post focused on the backgrounds of those participating in the protest. She wrote that many of them were students who had arrived “with 20 rupees in their pocket” and “full of hope” while seeking accountability.
She added many of the protesters were not “rich influential papas’ babies and babas” and that “no one came to save them”. She wrote that they had stood their ground, as they perhaps had all their lives, referring to the struggles involved in “waiting for buses, trains, admission, leaks”.
She also pointed out that “not a single child of any minister was there”. Calling the events heartbreaking, she wrote, “sab yaad rakha jayega” and described what happened as “unforgivable”.
Nandita Das said she stood in solidarity with those who believed democracy was strengthened when people could gather, speak, listen and be heard. “Constructive dissent is what keeps a democracy alive,” she wrote, adding that she was “in spirit with all those marching peacefully in Delhi for the India we believe in”.
The protest, held on the opening day of Parliament’s Monsoon Session, was organised to demand education reforms and seek the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged irregularities in the NEET examination. As the march moved towards Parliament, clashes broke out between protesters and security forces.
