In the last few days, several names from the Hindi film industry have spoken up on the ongoing student protests that took shape in Jantar Mantar. From Salman Khan to Alia Bhatt, Sonakshi Sinha to Kareena Kapoor, many took to social media to speak out on the CJP protests and showed solidarity with the students. Aamir Khan’s daughter Ira Khan has now broken her silence and said why she did not feel the need to speak up.
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Taking to her Instagram account on Thursday, Ira made a long video to make her point. She began, “It is true that I am an advocate for mental health and I ask for your attention whenever I speak on these topics. I think that mental health is all of life. I have chosen to say things and speak up about certain things. There are a couple of reasons why I haven’t and I am going to do my best to articulate them.”
She went on to add, “The first that comes to my mind is that I didn’t think I had anything to say that was going to add to the conversation in any manner. Especially because I am not having feelings about it and that’s something I do actively with all news. I usually don’t look at it, I don’t go to my explore page, I have not seen any videos of violence or any videos of the protest. I know that they are happening and I know what is happening but I don’t let myself emotionally reach me because it really bothers me and I get overwhelmed and I start to feel really helpless… I divert my energy and focus… to figure out how can an individual person navigate the best they can with what they have in their individual capacity outside of any system or regardless of any system. I am not saying this is the best approach but this is what I do.”
She said, “I don’t look at the news and I don’t look at social media… so I have not had feelings about this. My feelings still haven’t reached me. I got sent one reel and was told that my cousin was in it and she was potentially being detained at one of the protests and I freaked out. As soon as I realised that she was safe I went back to work… I did not say anything because I didn’t realise that me saying anything would make a difference and so if me not speaking up at this point implied in any manner that I don’t care then I am sorry that was not my intention.”
Ira also added that she is aware of the fact that the protest is more about the exams and implies how there should be room for conversation and disagreement. “I see that being able to, being able to afford to… having the option at all to look away… is a privilege. I’m figuring out what my most helpful role can be that aligns with my values and that’s what I’ll do,” she wrote in the caption.
For nearly a month, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led student protest continued at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, with activist Sonam Wangchuk and some other students joining the movement and going on a hunger strike. The students are demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the alleged NEET paper leak and other examination irregularities. They are also calling for comprehensive reforms to the education system.
