Amid the ongoing student protests across the country over the NEET paper leak, several celebrities, including Bollywood personalities, have come forward to extend their support and criticise the violence against students at the protest march. Meanwhile, many have still chosen not to speak about the issue, drawing widespread criticism from fans and users on social media. Actor Raghav Juyal was questioned about the issue by a journalist recently, to which the actor had a strong-worded response.
Raghav Juyal hits back at journalist
A video is now going viral online, reportedly from Rawat Public School in Pratap Nagar, Jaipur, where the actor had gone to promote his upcoming film. In the video, Raghav is seen exiting the premises when he is surrounded by fans and journalists.
As the actor makes his way out, a journalist stops him, to which Raghav obliges by patiently waiting and listening to his question. The journalist then asks the actor about the ongoing student protests in the country, questioning why he hadn’t spoken about the issue.
Raghav keeps his calm as he responds in Hindi, “Jitni himmat se aap humse sawal puchte hai, utni himmat se unse kijiye jinse sawal puchne chahiye. Aur maine apne Instagram par dala hua hai, aap woh padh lo. Aur itni himmat, agar aap patrakaar wahan dikhate jahan par sawal puchna chahiya, toh aaj yeh halat nahi hoti,” which loosely translates to, “Show the same courage with which you question us to ask questions where it is important. I have put up a post on Instagram; you can go read it. And if journalists showed the same courage where questions really need to be asked, the situation wouldn’t be what it is today.”
Later, the actor also took to his Instagram Stories to reshare a reel of his interaction, and wrote, “I said what I said.”
Raghav Juyal extends support to students
Raghav has publicly extended his support to students via a couple of Instagram posts, emphasising that demanding justice and accountabilty was the democratic right of the students. He earlier shared a picture of the Preamble of the Indian Constitution and simply wrote in the caption, “The original text of the Preamble of the Indian Constitution, adopted on 26th November, 1949. And the Chairman of the Drafting Committe, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, also known as the Father of the Indian Constitution.”
He later shared a quote by Bhagat Singh, which read, “Merciless criticism and independent thinking are the two necessary traits of revolutionary thinking.”