Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has, time and again, been mired in controversies, often gaining national limelight.
However, the recent attack on JNU students and professors by masked miscreants on the university campus late on January 5, has seen a departure from the usual. The otherwise closed kitty of members of the Hindi film industry has opened, rendering support to the students in large numbers.
A mob of masked people had stormed the JNU campus in south Delhi and targeted students and faculty members in three hostels, including a girls hostel, unleashing mayhem with sticks, stones and iron rods, hitting inmates, and breaking windows, vandalising the premises. The incident reportedly left 34 people injured.
The attack was not only followed by political mudslinging and nationwide protests condemning the on-campus violence, but also witnessed members of the Hindi film industry emerging to stand by the students, who had been attacked.
In the most recent one, an act that took social media by a storm, Deepika Padukone made a surprise visit to the JNU campus on Janaury 7 to express solidarity with students who had been injured. The actor, donning a black turtleneck, stood in silence as former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar was raising slogans. She also met with the current JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh, who got serious injuries on the head.
Her visit prompted many in the film industry, as well as outside, to praise her for her move. But, at the same time, it also led to hashtags demanding that Padukone's upcoming movie Chhapaak, which releases this Friday, be boycotted.
Swara Bhasker, who was one of the firsts from the film industry to demand action against the perpetrators of JNU violence, shared a video clip of Padukone at a student gathering on the campus on Twitter, and captioned it "Bollywood just got JNU-ised! #LongLiveJNU #JNUProtests".
Earlier on January 6, prominent names from the film fraternity such as Vishal Bhardwaj, Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, Taapsee Pannu and Richa Chadha joined a public gathering which was protesting against JNU violence at Carter Road in Mumbai.
Dia Mirza, Ali Fazal, Sudhir Mishra, Anubhav Sinha and Rahul Dholakia among others were present at the gathering.
Not only the Hindi film industry, but the Malayalam Film industry also condemned the attack. Prithviraj Sukumaran, Manju Warrier, Tovino Thomas, Murali Gopy, Nivin Pauly and Geetu Mohandas among others expressed solidarity with JNU students and teachers.
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