Hollywood actor condemns attack on Jamia Millia Islamia students

NEW DELHI: Hollywood actor John Cusack came out in “solidarity” with protesting students on Twitter on Monday. The actor, while tweeting statements by author Arundhati Roy, also shared videos from inside Jamia Millia Islamia, protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act. TOI has not independently verified the authenticity of the videos.
Cusack posted a video that showed injured students inside a washroom.In one of the posts, he wrote quoting Arundhati Roy, “Fascists in India trying to set students against each other - to cover for economic collapse of demonetisation but they are standing together in solidarity with their Muslim brothers and sisters. This is fascism everywhere - them or us.”
“Reports from Delhi are it was a war zone last night - Fascism is not a joke - we use the word with the understanding it’s deadly,” the 53-year-old actor posted from his handle.
Cusack also commented on India’s economy. “Indian economy in ICU - chaos - civil war,” he wrote. The hollywood star’s support comes in the wake of protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act that continued in different parts of the country, including Delhi, Assam, Hyderabad, Aligarh and Kolkata.
CAA seeks to grant Indian citizenship to refugees from Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Parsi and Christian communities coming from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
Several Bollywood actors, too, took to Twitter to talk about the protests that have rocked the country. Director Mahesh Bhatt, actor Pooja Bhatt, Dia Mirza, Richa Chadda, Vikrant Massey supported the students, while director Vivek Agnihotri and actor Koena Mitra backed the police action.