Aamir Khan’s daughter is staying away from CJP protests, Imran Khan speaks up for students | Bollywood News

As the nation remains gripped the ongoing student protests demanding education reforms, several celebrities have come forward over the past few days to express solidarity with the demonstrators. Prominent Bollywood names including Salman Khan, Alia Bhatt, Kareena Kapoor, Hrithik Roshan, Varun Dhawan, Ratna Pathak Shah and Naseeruddin Shah have all voiced their support. The latest to weigh in is Aamir Khan’s daughter, Ira Khan, who shared her thoughts on the issue in a six-minute-long video posted on Instagram. Aamir Khan has maintained silence on the ongoing CJP protests.Sharing the video, Ira admitted that she had consciously maintained a dance from the protests as consuming news often leaves her emotionally overwhelmed. In the caption, she wrote, “I see that being able to, being able to afford to… having the option at all to look away… is a privilege. I’m figuring out what my most helpful role can be that aligns with my values and that’s what I’ll do. Be safe.”
Beginning her video, Ira addressed the question many had been asking: why she had not spoken about the protests sooner. “Why am I not speaking up about the protests? It’s true that I advocate for mental health, and I ask for your attention whenever I speak on these topics. And I think that mental health is all of life. So I guess, in a way, I’ve chosen to say things and speak up about certain things. There are a couple of reasons why I haven’t, and I’m going to do my best to articulate them,” she said.
Explaining her silence, Ira said she initially felt she had little to contribute to the conversation and had deliberately stayed away from dressing news coverage. “The first that comes to my mind is that I didn’t think I had anything to say that was going to add to the conversation in any meaningful manner, especially because I’m not having feelings about it. And that’s something that I do actively with all news. I usually just don’t look at it. I don’t go to my Explore page. I have not seen any videos of violence or any videos of the protests. I know that they’re happening, and I know what is happening, I think. But I don’t let it emotionally reach me because it really bothers me, and I get overwhelmed, and I start feeling really helpless.”
‘I would like to clarify that I do care’
She further explained that, instead of constantly following the news, she prefers to channel her energy into understanding how individuals can make a difference within their own capacity. “So my way of not getting overwhelmed and helpless, but still not ignoring things, is that I divert my energy and my focus, whatever I have in me, into the attempt to figure out: how can an individual person navigate the best they can with what they have in their individual capacity, outside of any system or regardless of any system? I’m not saying this is the best approach, but this is what I do. I don’t look at the news, and I don’t look at social media. I purposefully spend time and energy focusing on, regardless of the topic, regardless of the system, regardless of the kind of discrimination or unfairness or whatever I may think and feel, I shift my energy that way.”
Ira also clarified that her silence should not be maken for indifference. Recalling how she briefly panicked after seeing a video that reportedly showed her cousin being detained during a protest, she said she realised she had unconsciously been dancing herself from the events. “My feelings still haven’t reached me. I know that I got sent one reel, and the story was that my cousin was in it. I saw the reel, and it was that she was potentially being detained at one of the protests, and I freaked out. And as soon as I realised she was safe, again, I was like, ‘Okay,’ and I went back to work. So I’m sure there are feelings, but they’re not reaching me. I did not say anything because I didn’t realize that me saying anything would make a difference. And so, if me not speaking up at this point implied in any manner that I don’t care, then I’m sorry. That was not my intention. While I’m not fully feeling anything, if there was any doubt, I would like to clarify that I do care.”
Also Read | Lathis in Delhi, heroes on screen: As Singham turns 15, Bollywood’s supercop myth shatteredStory continues below this ad
She concluded expressing concern over how the situation might unfold, saying, “Something I’m feeling, something I’m closer to feeling, is that I’m worried about how this is going to progress. And I really hope that it ends with the least amount of emotional, psychological, and physical pain possible for anybody.”

View this post on Instagram

‘The country is its people’
Ira’s remarks came after her cousin, actor Imran Khan, joined a student protest march in Mumbai earlier this week. Speaking to Brut India about his experience at the demonstration, Imran said he was deeply moved the students’ determination to raise their concerns. “I was on the ground with all of these students. The average age over there must have been 16. These were kids who were 16, 17, 18 years old, genuinely raising their voice and highlighting something that affects them, that directly affects their today and their tomorrow. It was hard not to be moved that, and to not feel empathy with a movement like that,” he said.
Elaborating on his support for the protests, Imran added, “What’s happening today is that a certain section of our Indian citizens, children of this country, are standing up and trying to draw attention to an issue that affects them. If not their cause, what are we supposed to pay attention to?” He further criticised the state’s response to the movement, saying, “The response from the establishment, and the response from society at large, is something that will be remembered those who are affected it. To club these kinds of voices and to group them under the umbrella of ‘the other’, this whole ‘anti-national’ thing which gets thrown around, to invalidate the opinion of other citizens and to deem that as counter to national interest, that in itself is creating a division.”
Imran concluded arguing that such rhetoric risks deepening divisions within the country. “You’re creating a division within the country itself. The idea that the state itself is the country and not its people, that is a problematic thing. The country is its people. The state is an appointed body, appointed public demand.”
Also Read | Jyotika backs CJP protest, demands Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation: ‘Proud of you Gen Z’Story continues below this ad
Aamir Khan on Sonam Wangchuk
Ira’s statement also comes days after Aamir Khan addressed questions about education activ Sonam Wangchuk during a conversation at the 17th edition of the London Indian Film Festival. Responding to claims that his character in 3 Idiots was based on Wangchuk, Aamir said, “No. That’s not true actually. That is a misconception. I didn’t know about Mr Sonam at the time when we were doing the film 3 Idiots.”
He further explained, “Neither Raju and Abhijat, who were the two writers, nor I knew about Sonam. However, what Mr Sonam is doing doesn’t have to be based on the character of 3 Idiots for us to respect him. In fact, Mr Sonam himself has said that the character is not based on him. He has also clarified.” Speaking about Wangchuk’s then ongoing fast, Aamir had added, “I think all of us are very concerned for his health and life. We hope that he ends his fast.”
About the protests
The protests at Jantar Mantar, spearheaded the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), have intensified over the past few weeks after educator and environmental Sonam Wangchuk began an indefinite hunger strike, which concluded on Thursday night. On Monday, July 20, as the Monsoon Session of Parliament commenced, students from across the country gathered in New Delhi and marched towards Parliament under the banner of the Chalo Sansad march.