Kabir Khan on JNU violence: If you stop students from protesting, then it is the death of democracy

The recent violence at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has left the country shaken. Many have spoken against it but there are also some who are supporting it. ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ director Kabir Khan recently spoke about the whole situation. The filmmaker said that he is extra sensitive about the issue since he is an alumnus of the same university.

Speaking to IANS, Kabir Khan said, “I feel strongly about these issues. It was, for me, a very uncomfortable visual when I watched those students of Jamia walking out with their hands in the air. I feel students have an absolute right to dissent, students have a right to protest. If you stop students from protesting, then it is the death of democracy. How can you prevent them from expressing dissent?”

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He added no one can stop students from talking about something they don’t like, you can debate with them but not suppress them and beat them up. “If the students don’t like something and they want to talk about it, you cannot stop them from doing so. If you think they are wrong, you can debate with them. But don’t have the police suppress them and beat them up on their campus. That’s not the culture we want,” he added.

For the uninitiated, JNU students and teachers were attacked on campus by a masked mob. The mob injured around 35 people including JNU students’ Union president Aishe Ghosh.

On the work front, Kabir’s next directorial project is ’83’ that stars Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone. The movie is based on Kapil Dev and revolves around the 1983 World Cup victory of India. The film hits the silver screens on 10 April 2020.

Also Read: Ranveer Singh and the team ’83’ pay a special tribute to Kapil Dev on his 61st birthday