Shuttler Jwala Gutta was one of the first Indian sportspersons to condemn the brutal attack on the students of Jawaharlal Nehru University by a masked mob in the capital on Sunday evening.
“We as sportsperson represent INDIA...and now students of our country are being beaten up and the goons have been let off...
“I request all the GREATS of the sports of INDIA...speak for our students...they are our future!! #condemnviolence #JNUattack #JNUVioence,” Jwala tweeted.
Late on Monday, Jwala was asked by The Telegraph if she was surprised to see that not many sports celebrities were reacting to the recent atrocities against students. She replied: “Am not surprised… It’s kind of a mixed feeling… I think that’s the culture developed for quite some time…
“Don’t know whether it’s because of fear or reluctance to speak… Even sportspersons or other celebrities can be soft targets… But I do believe that violence against students need to be condemned by celebrities and verified accounts/handles on social media as that will build up pressure on the police to first pull up the culprits/criminals.”
Jwala feels the major worry is the “fear to question what’s happening”. “You don’t have to take sides or belong to a certain party. But as a fellow human, you can certainly condemn such acts.
“Tomorrow it can happen to you. Somewhere we’ve forgotten that we live in a society and have our moral responsibilities as well,” she said.
Jwala supported the students’ protests. “We live in a democracy, not under a monarch or a dictator,” she said.
Without naming actress Kangana Ranaut, Jwala slammed the former for her comments on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
“In our population, only three to four per cent people pay taxes. Rest of them are actually dependent on them. So, who gives you the right to burn buses, trains, create ruckus in the country?” the actress had said last month.
“Such a statement is misleading… So sad to hear influential people talking this way… They just cannot speak in that tone especially when there is such unrest in the country. If there is crime happening, some way we are also responsible,” Jwala said.
Arun Lal Telegraph picture
Bengal senior cricket team head coach Arun Lal too lashed out at the mayhem at the two renowned universities. “Terrible… “I don’t know the provocation. But it doesn’t augur well for the country,” Lal, an alumnus of St Stephen’s College of New Delhi, said.
“We live in a country where our democratic right is freedom of speech. No matter how unpalatable it may seem to you, I still have the right as a citizen to have an opinion.
“You cannot stop me from voicing my opinion, and I don’t want to live in a country where I can’t speak what I want to... Previously, in universities, police could not enter without permission… They can’t just enter our colleges and beat the students up.”
