Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has now become the latest celebrity who has voiced concern for and expressed solidarity with educationalist Sonam Wangchuk who is sitting on an indefinite hunger strike asking for accountability for the NEET paper leaks. The director has also questioned the establishment over the silence on the matter.
Taking to his Instagram Stories, Anurag wrote, “There was a time when hunger strike had some meaning. People don’t go on hunger strike just like that. It’s really troubling when the system becomes so indifferent to people’s lives. Only a man as empathetic and a believer of truth and justice has the courage to do that. I don’t have the courage to do what Sonam Wangchuk is doing. But the silence from the powers to be is deafening to the point that it is a proof of their guilt and their murderous intent. I stand is with the brave heart that Sonam Wangchuk is.”
He also shared a post on his Instagram, titled: “Ab hadd ho rahi hai. (Enough is enough)”. He wrote, “Behre bhi itne behre nahin hotey, aur andhe bhi itne andhe nahin hotey. Jaanwar aur rakshason ke dil bhi itne patthar nahin hotey. Ye unse bhi badtar aadamkhor hain. Chup rehne mein sharam aaney lagi hai.(Even the deaf are not this deaf, and even the blind are not this blind. Even animals and demons do not have hearts this hardened. They are even worse than them; they prey on humans. Remaining silent has started to feel shameful.)
Many from the film fraternity have stood up for Wangchuk. Actors like Zeenat Aman, Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah, Swara Bhasker and Omi Vaidya have shown support for the educationalist who is sitting at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, observing a hunger strike for the past 18 days.
The protest, led by the social media collective Cockroach Janta Party, began on June 20, with Wangchuk joining the movement on June 28. The demonstrators are demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Rs 1 crore in compensation for the families of students who allegedly died by suicide following the NEET-UG paper leak controversy. They have also announced a peaceful march to Parliament on July 20, the opening day of the Monsoon Session.