Recently, Kamal Haasan met with students from Madras University who have been protesting against CAA. Speaking to the press, Haasan said, "There are 800 students struck Inside Taramani and Marina campuses. They have been starved out so that their voices can be silenced. I have come here to lend my face as their podium and my vocal cords as their microphone. I am not allowed inside. They might say what rights I have got since I am a high school dropout. But let me tell you, once the students get their degrees and get out of the college, they will call themselves as engineers, lawyers, and doctors, but till I die, I will call myself a student. I shall remain a student and I have come here in that capacity to be their defender."
He added, "I will keep voicing, whether or not I had started a party, now that I have started a party, it has become my bonded duty to be here and voice. You cannot silence the voices across the country, I fear we are moving towards a dictatorship."
Alankrita Shrivastava shared on Twitter, "Overwhelmed with the turnout at August Kranti Maidan in Mumbai. It was powerful, and peaceful. I felt the heartbeat of a nation where the democratic pulse is alive and healthy. Let us continue the resistance against divisive politics. Let no power divide India. We are one."
Farhan Akhtar tweeted, "Well done Mumbai on a peaceful protest today and a special shout out to the @MumbaiPolice for overseeing the safety and security of all gathered. #Respect"
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Anurag Kashyap, Kabir Khan, Mini Mathur, Nikkhil Advani, Aditi Rao Hydari, Nandita Das, Konkana Sensharna, Jim Sarbh, Huma Qureshi, Saqib Salem, Raj Babbar, Sanjay Suri, Anupriya Goenka, Neeraj Ghaywan among others are present at the CAA protest.
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra said at the protest, "There are many kinds of flowers in our garden. But if we insist there should be only one kind and one colour of flower..."
Jaaved Jaffrey asks the government in his speech, "Stop this game. Tell us what’s going to happen next. Give us roti kapada makaan. You said you’d give us health policy, education policy but you come to power and the first thing you say is that you are going to build a temple!"
Dia Mirza shared this video from the CAA protest. The actor had earlier tweeted, "Due to ill health unable to attend protest in #MumbaiAgainstCAA today but I am with every single peaceful protester today who is standing in solidarity with his/her fellow Indians. May our #Democracy always bring us together as ONE. #IndiaAgainstCAA."
(Express photo by Benita Fernando)
At the protest, Farhan Akhtar said, "As a citizen of the country and as somebody who was born and has grown up with a certain idea of India, it is important for me to raise my voice. If everything was ok, why would so many people turn up? Not just in Mumbai, but Delhi, Assam, Bangalore, Hyderabad."
(Express photo by Benita Fernando)
Swara Bhasker is present at the CAA protest in Mumbai.
(Express photo by Benita Fernando)
Farhan Akhtar has arrived at August Kranti Maidan to participate in the protest against CAA.
Sushant Singh said in a statement, "It's time that we wipe out hatred, spread love. Whatever misunderstanding, fear exists in our hearts, should be spoken about through dialogue with the government. I had attended the Mumbai University protest to support her youth. If the youth is disappointed, it is my responsibility as an elder to go to them and try to understand them. Many people have asked me if I have read the bill at all. I am reading the bill." He further added, "I still don't know why I am being terminated from the show, Savdhan India. I have not received the official termination letter. I got a WhatsApp message from the channel at 2:30 am on December 17 that December 20 would be the last day of the show. Before that, I wasn't given any intimation."
Anurag Kashyap shared on twitter, "By shutting down internet , metros, arresting people .. you are just being an ostrich ... the voices will only get louder .. #Emergency2019"
Actor Arjun Mathur is at August Kranti Maidan protest against CAA and NRC in Mumbai. He shared this photo via his Instagram story.
(Photo: Arjun Mathur/Instagram story)