“If an Uneducated Person Runs a Country…”: Naseeruddin Shah backs CJP protesters

Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah has voiced strong support for Cockroach Janta Party protesters following the police crackdown on their demonstration in New Delhi, adding a prominent Bollywood voice to a wave of celebrity solidarity emerging after Monday’s clash. The National Award-winning actor shared an emotional statement in Urdu late Tuesday, posted to CJP’s social media accounts.

Shah drew a pointed comparison in his message, describing the ruling establishment as uneducated and suggesting that when someone lacking education leads a country, they naturally want the entire nation to become as uneducated, senseless, incompetent, and merciless as themselves. He also compared the police personnel who used batons against students to American ICE agents, describing them as masked figures carrying sticks.

Speaking about his own reaction to the crackdown, Shah said his heart was heavy and that he was boiling with anger watching how the country’s children were treated, adding a direct warning to those responsible that everyone eventually faces consequences for their actions, and urging them to consider their own children when reflecting on their conduct.

The actor closed his message with direct encouragement to the protesters themselves, telling the students not to lose courage and assuring them that widespread public sympathy stands with them. He said he has always held hope for the country’s younger generation, and that this moment has only deepened that hope, urging them to continue their fight with the assurance that others stand behind them. He ended with a pointed message to the government that everything happening now will be remembered.

Shah’s statement follows Monday’s march toward India’s Parliament, during which Delhi police used baton charges and tear gas against student protesters. Police have said the action was necessary due to what they characterized as unruly and violent behavior among demonstrators, though widely circulated video footage from the protest has been cited as showing what many observers describe as disproportionate police action, with no footage emerging showing violence originating from the protesters themselves.

Shah’s intervention adds to a broader wave of public figures from India’s film industry expressing solidarity with the student movement following the crackdown, a development that extends the CJP protest’s visibility beyond student and activist circles into mainstream cultural and celebrity discourse. Whether this celebrity backing translates into sustained public pressure on the government, or remains largely symbolic gestures of support, will likely become clearer as the protest movement’s next steps unfold in the coming days.