Deepika Padukone who was in Delhi promoting her upcoming release Chhapaak, visited the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus to express solidarity with the students, who were beaten up in campus-targeted violence on Sunday. The actress however only briefly attended the public meeting that was held in protest of the inaction against the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) attackers.
Deepika is one of the biggest names from Bollywood to show solidarity to the protesting teachers and students of JNU and former students' union president Kanhaiya Kumar of the campus thanked the actress on his twitter page for the same.
More power to you @deepikapadukone and thank you for your solidarity and support. You might be abused or trolled today, but history will remember you for your courage and standing by the idea of India. pic.twitter.com/q9WkXODchL
— Kanhaiya Kumar (@kanhaiyakumar) January 7, 2020
Deepika's visit follows her statement on Monday where in reference to CAA, NRC and the JNU protests she said, "I feel proud to see that we aren't scared to express ourselves..I think the fact that we are thinking about the country and its future..Whatever may be our point of view, it's nice to see,"
However, Aishe Ghosh, current president of the JNU students' union who was seriously wounded in the Sunday attack and was reportedly hugged and had a chat with by Padukone, wasn't too pleased with Deepika's non-addressal of the crowd. In her speech at the meeting [by which time Padukone had left] Ghosh said,
"When you are in a position, you should speak up..There are many people in Bollywood who do not put forth their views when they are not be aired. They are considered role models, I appeal to them: Make inspiring films after something has happened but when you are in that position, also talk about the story that is currently happening."
Also Read: deepika-padukone-chhapaak-jnu-visit