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'Youth deserve to be heard without fear': Riteish Deshmukh backs student protestors after police lathi charge

Riteish Deshmukh shared a tweet on Monday evening in support of student protestors hours after Delhi Police cracked down on the protests.

Updated on: Jul 21, 2026, 08:29:55 IST
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On Monday, the ongoing protests in Delhi against irregularities in the education sector and paper leaks turned violent with clashes between police personnel and protestors. Actor and filmmaker Riteish Deshmukh later backed the protestors, urging the administration to initiate a dialogue with them and maintaining that the youth of the country ‘deserve to be heard without fear’.

Riteish Deshmukh backs student protestors

Riteish Deshmukh has thrown his weight behind the ongoing student protests.
Riteish Deshmukh has thrown his weight behind the ongoing student protests.

On Monday evening, hours after the violent skirmishes between protestors and police personnel in Delhi, Riteish took to X (formerly Twitter) and wrote, “We stand in solidarity with the youth of our country. Their voices deserve to be heard — loud, clear, and without fear. They are the heartbeat of our democracy and the true architects of our nation’s future.” The actor and director also urged the administration to initiate a dialogue with the student protestors. “Let us listen, support, and empower them. The energy, courage, and dreams of our young people will shape the India we aspire to build,” he added, before ending his note with ‘Jai Hind’.

What happened at the protests on Monday

Meanwhile, on Monday, a delegation of the CJP met Union Health Minister JP Nadda to discuss its demands. The Union minister appealed to the protesters to end their sit-in.

What are the protests about

The CJP-led protests have been ongoing for over two weeks amid allegations of irregularities in the education sector, particularly the alleged leaks of NEET exams. Social activist Sonam Wangchuck also joined the protest earlier this month, starting a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar.

Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) chief spokesperson Saurav Das said they placed three demands before Nadda, including the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and compensation of 1 crore to the families of the NEET aspirants, "more than 20 of whom have lost their lives". He said activist Sonam Wangchuk, who is in a hospital, should be "released immediately". Das said that the protest will continue till Dharmendra Pradhan resigns.

 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Abhimanyu Mathur

Abhimanyu Mathur is Deputy Editor, Entertainment at Hindustan Times. With almost 15 years of experience in writing about everything from films and TV shows to cricket matches and elections, he inhales and exhales pop culture and news. Currently, he watches movies and TV shows and talks to celebrities for a living, while occasionally writing about them as well. A journalism graduate of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Delhi University, Abhimanyu began his career with Hindustan Times at the age of 20, swapping classrooms for newsrooms at an early age. He began his journey in the early days of digital journalism, later switching to the madness of print journalism. Work has led him to far off places like Japan and Jordan, as well as to the interiors of Haryana and the Indo-Pak border. He dabbled in city reporting in places like Meerut, Gurgaon, and Delhi, covered the Olympics and Cricket World Cups, before finding his calling in entertainment and lifestyle during the pandemic. A Rotten Tomatoes Certified Film Critic, he is equally at home covering stories on ground as he is interviewing celebrities and studios, and sometimes prefers to shepherd teams in delivering traffic through the day. Even as his role has evolved from reporter to supervisor over the years, his first love remains writing (and of late, talking on camera). With a good understanding of cinema and its trends, and a keen eye for detail, he continues to spark conversations around showbiz for readers around the world.

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