The Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) and students-led protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar has gained widespread attention, with demonstrations and solidarity marches being held in several parts of the country. People are coming out on streets to support the movement. On July 20, protesters’ attempt to march to the parliament was met with severe lathicharge from the police.
Now, a number of Bollywood celebrities have expressed support for the students, condemned the police brutality, and appealed for peaceful demonstrations. Among those who have publicly voiced their support are Salman Khan, Rohit Saraf, Naseeruddin Shah, Arijit Singh, Anurag Kashyap, Genelia D’Souza, Riteish Deshmukh, Thalapathy Vijay, and more.
Here are 10 celebrities who are backing and appealing for peaceful protest across the country.
Salman Khan
Sharing an old grainy picture of himself from his school days, the 60-year-old called the students participating in the protest “courageous and brave.”
He wrote, “It was such a peaceful movement, feel so sad that it had to take a violent turn. My heart goes out to the students and their families who were hurt. Paper leak is a very serious issue, and I am glad to know and see that the kids of our country have come together for a better educational system, and their parents supported them.”
“This andolan, this protest, is the right way to go about it, and the students have done this peacefully. So courageous and brave. This issue is between the students and the educational system, it should not be hijacked politically, the credit should only go to the students of our country,” he wrote.
Salman Khan ended his post, saying, education should be the next trend and fashion in the country so that students from abroad come to India to study.
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Naseeruddin Shah
The veteran actor posted a video statement on social media, extending his support to the protesters. “I would like to say two things to you all. The first thing is that if an uneducated person leads this country, then his heart will want the whole country to become as ignorant, incomprehensible, and merciless as he is,” he said.
Shah went on to urge students not to lose hope, saying, “My blood boils seeing how the youth are being tortured by those goons who remind me of the mask-wearing agents in America. Many people are with you. Keep fighting,” the actor added.
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Rohit Saraf
Rohit Saraf also shared his thoughts on his Instagram stories. He wrote, “Today’s been gut-wrenching, but I know one thing…not just our nation, the entire world is listening. It’s the sound of a future that feels brighter despite the uncertainty of today. I believe today will not be remembered for the violence that unfolded, but for the extraordinary courage that was shown.”
Arijit Singh
Singh shared a series of posts on X and expressed anger over the use of force against the protesters. “Yaar ab to students ko maar rahe hain yahaan aap log (Now you are beating up the students). Aren’t you ashamed!!??” he wrote.
In another post, the singer said, “Hello Neta, Mantri!! kya chal raha hai bhai!! apne aapko bhagwan samajh liya hai kya? (Hello, leaders and ministers! What’s going on? Have you started thinking you’re gods or something?). Har cheez Yaad rakkha jayega! Yaad rakhna (Everything will be remembered. Remember that). The only constant is change.”
Anurag Kashyap
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Anurag Kashyap also backed the protest saying, “What they don’t understand about the kids who’ve come down on the streets to protest is that they were between 2-6 when the PM came to power. All they’ve seen is Congress-mukt Bharat, and they’re tired of it. They want answers, and they really want them.” “Kisi aur ko gaali deke iss baar nahin chalega. In bachchon ke sawaal poochne aur vote dene ka time aa gaya hai.”
Genelia and Riteish Deshmukh
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The couple also extended support to the students and said their voices deserve to be heard.
“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. Let us listen, support, and empower them. The energy, courage, and dreams of our young people will shape the India we aspire to build. Jai Hind. Genelia & Riteish Deshmukh #YouthOfIndia #VoiceOfTheYouth #FutureOfOurNation (sic),” they said in a joint statement.
Thalapathy Vijay
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Actor-turned-politician and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Thalapathy Vijay has publicly backed the ongoing Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protests. In a statement posted on X on Wednesday, Vijay said, “As far as the NEET examination is concerned, TVK’s uncompromising stand is that the NEET examination system should be abolished entirely. We will never make false promises or indulge in vote-bank politics over the NEET issue. The examination has caused immense hardship not only to students but also to their families.”
Shabana Azmi
Veteran actor Shabana Azmi is also among the personalities to extend her support to the student protests over the alleged NEET-UG paper leak.
Azmi participated in the ‘Chalo Sansad’ march in New Delhi on July 20. Speaking to The Indian Express, the 75-year-old actor revealed that she suffered an asthma attack after being exposed to tear gas during the demonstration.
“I am an asthmatic and got an attack because of the tear gas, but I had my pump with me so I am ok now. I was respectfully escorted to a nearby building and after catching my breath, I went right back and spoke to the students who had been lathicharged. Their spirit is unprecedented. My salaams to all of them,” Azmi said.
Despite the health scare, Azmi said she recovered after using her inhaler and returned to the protest site to meet students who were injured during the police action.
Alia Bhatt
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Alia Bhatt has also publicly expressed support for the students involved in the ongoing protests over the alleged NEET paper leak and the police action against demonstrators. In an Instagram post shared on Wednesday, Alia said, “The last few days have broken my heart and then mended it, again and again, with hope. Behind every student standing their ground is a dream, a family’s hope, a journey of countless sacrifices. They represent not just themselves but everyone who has supported them, while creating a better path for those who will come after them.”
She went on to praise the protesters, adding, “Their courage humbles me. Their resolve is a mirror held up to all of us, asking whether we are truly listening to the very people who will inherit and shape this country’s tomorrow. For the students. By the students. The future is theirs. Jai Hind.”
Huma Qureshi
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The actress, who has stepped out to support the Jantar Mantar protesters today with his rumoured boyfriend, also shared an Instagram post earlier saying that the situation could have been handled with much more patience.
“The visuals from today will stay with me for a very long time. Seeing peaceful protestors being met with such brute forces and lathis left me with a deep sense of sadness. This surely could have been handled with much more patience, more listening and more dialogue,” she said.
She added, “We, the people of India, elected this government and today we all need to ask questions and expect accountability. We are a huge diverse nation, we don’t all have to agree on every issue, but surely we can agree that every citizen deserves to be heard with dignity before force becomes the response.”
Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) supporters raise slogans during a protest at the Jantar Mantar, in New Delhi, early Thursday, July 23, 2026. A number of Bollywood celebrities, including Salman Khan, have expressed support for the students, condemned the police brutality, and appealed for peaceful demonstrations (Image PTI).
Jantar Mantar, a designated protest site, wore a deserted look throughout the day, with the deployment of over 30,000 security personnel and waves of barricades in Lutyens’ Delhi to keep the protesters away from the area.
An unprecedented security clampdown and the detention of over 7,000 protesters, including CJP leader Abhijit Dipke, four former chief ministers and YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, helped the government thwart a planned mass mobilisation at Jantar Mantar on Saturday to press for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Jantar Mantar, a designated protest site, wore a deserted look throughout the day, with the deployment of over 30,000 security personnel and waves of barricades in Lutyens’ Delhi to keep the protesters away from the area.
Opposition parties likened the situation to one worse than the Emergency, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi urging the youth to “keep protesting” and asserting that “we are going to ensure that this regime and the people who have attacked the Constitution are defeated”.
Several opposition leaders, including former chief ministers Arvind Kejriwal (AAP), Mamata Banerjee (TMC), Pinarayi Vijayan (CPI-M) and Manik Sarkar (CPI-M), were detained from multiple locations across the capital as they tried to join the protest called by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP).
“This has gone beyond an Emergency; it has become a Super Emergency,” Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Banerjee said. Several detained leaders claimed that they were driven around in police vehicles for hours.
CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby, veteran Left leader Brinda Karat, CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, activist Yogendra Yadav, lawyer Prashant Bhushan and All India Students’ Association (AISA) president Neha were also detained.
Gandhi, who was in Chennai for his Chhatron Ki Goonj event, also said the “core characteristic” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the RSS is “cowardice”.
The Congress, which has been holding protests demanding the resignation of the CEC over alleged vote theft, however, maintained its distance from the CJP protest.
Dipke and two CJP leaders, Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, were detained by Delhi Police from inside the aircraft as soon as their flight from Mumbai landed in the national capital.
In a video shared by the CJP, Dipke could be heard telling police officers who entered the aircraft, “We are here to be arrested, come and arrest us.”
Before the detention, police personnel told the CJP leaders that they did not have permission to hold their protest at Jantar Mantar.
Dipke said CJP leaders were being detained as if they were criminals. He said that even former prime minister Indira Gandhi did not do this, adding that it amounted to dictatorship.
Rathee, who lives abroad and had come to join the CJP protest against CEC Kumar, was detained by police from his residence in Gurugram’s Sector 56 on Saturday.
Around 1 pm, scores of protesters hurled stones at security personnel near Akashwani Bhawan on Imtiaz Ali Marg after jumping barricades, injuring two police personnel. The protesters were quickly detained by security personnel.
In the evening, a similar incident happened near Hanuman Temple in Connaught Place, where some protesters threw stones at security personnel. A total of seven personnel sustained injuries during the detention of protesters.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Anant Mittal also sustained injuries to his hand during the detention of Left leaders, including AISA’s Neha.
Police are likely to file multiple FIRs in connection with the alleged assault on police personnel during the protest, a senior officer said.
New Delhi virtually turned khaki on Saturday, with the deployment of over 30,000 police and paramilitary personnel ahead of the CJP protest. Waves of barricades lining the streets, the closure of 45 metro stations and intensive checks at the city’s border points, railway stations, bus terminals, hotels and other sensitive locations left the capital gridlocked.
More than 7,000 protesters were detained today across Delhi, including more than 2,000 in New Delhi area, police sources said.
In a pre-recorded video message released soon after his detention, CJP leader Dipke said the organisation’s in-charge, Ajinkya Shinde, would lead its protest at Jantar Mantar. The CJP asserted that the protest would continue nationwide, with or without its leaders.
Police informed Dipke about the death of his grandmother in Maharashtra and offered possible facilitation for his journey to his hometown on humanitarian grounds.
Dipke’s paternal grandmother, Savitribai Shankarrao Dipke, 85, died at her home in Santuk Pimpri village in Maharashtra’s Hingoli district around 11.30 am on Saturday following a prolonged illness, family sources said.
Activist Sonam Wangchuk said he would consider launching a peaceful protest, including a hunger strike or a march in Leh or Delhi, if the detainees were not released within 24 hours.
Wangchuk had joined the earlier 36-day agitation of the CJP at Jantar Mantar on the NEET paper leak issue that had ended on July 25 after the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as Union Education Minister. The stir had seen massive chaos during a march to Parliament on July 20 as security personnel tried to stop the protesters.
Hitting out at the Opposition, the BJP said that the protest meant to take the city “hostage” turned out to be a “flop show”, accusing Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi of spreading anarchy in cahoots with foreign powers, likening him to historical figure Mir Jafar.
It was a victory of democracy over “mob rule”, BJP leader Sambit Patra said, as hundreds of youths and several politicians who headed to Jantar Mantar were detained by Delhi Police.
A large number of police personnel detained groups of protesters from several places, including Hanuman Temple, Akashwani Bhawan, Safdarjung Flyover and Kerala House.
Regular announcements were being made by the police at Jantar Mantar, instructing people and mediapersons not to gather in one place.
The police also picked up a few protesters who managed to reach Jantar Mantar. The massive security arrangements by Delhi Police thwarted attempts by protesters to reach Jantar Mantar.
BJP president Nitin Nabin accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Kejriwal and the CJP of attempting to destabilise the country with the backing of foreign forces.
He asserted that the government would deal sternly with their “ill intentions”, while party workers would foil their design on the ground. The ruling party had back-to back press conferences on Saturday and deployed its senior leaders for the counter-offensive.
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta asserted that the capital will not be held hostage and accused Gandhi and Kejriwal of trying to turn the city into a “battleground”, in league with their “B-Team” CJP.
Several journalists claimed that they were detained. Reporters alleged that they were detained despite displaying their press identity cards, and that their official phones were seized by police personnel before they were taken to detention buses along with other protesters.
Visuals circulating showed journalists displaying their press identity cards from inside the buses.
Top leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), including Kejriwal, who openly supported the CJP, also failed to reach Jantar Mantar.
Kejriwal, who had earlier announced that he would join the protest along with his family members, alleged that the security clampdown in central Delhi to prevent the protest and detain CJP leaders was “worse than the Emergency”.
Kejriwal gave the “Delhi chalo” call, urging youth across the country to reach the national capital to demand the resignation of the chief election commissioner over “vote theft”, shortly before he was detained by the Delhi Police.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge lashed out at the Modi government over the detentions by Delhi police, saying it has turned the “mother of democracy” into a “muzzled democracy”. The Congress chief alleged that the cowardice of the BJP-RSS is on full display today.
More than 120 companies of Central Armed Police Forces assisted Delhi Police in managing the security situation. Personnel were deployed at strategic locations, while mock drills were conducted at several places to assess preparedness and response mechanisms.
Authorities also monitored social media platforms for attempts to mobilise people for the protest. More than 200 content creators were reportedly under scrutiny as police examined online posts and messages linked to the proposed gathering.
Liquor shops across Delhi were closed as a precautionary measure. With restrictions affecting major transport hubs and several parts of the city, commuters were advised to check official announcements and plan their journeys accordingly.
