As student protests over exam irregularities continue to spark debate, Abhay Deol has urged people to confront uncomfortable truths about division, silence and accountability.
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Actor Abhay Deol has come out in support of students protesting the recent violence in Delhi, using his social media platform to call out what he sees as India’s deep-rooted social divisions.
Abhay posted the well-known post-war poem “First They Came” by German pastor Martin Niemöller, a piece often quoted for its warning that staying silent about injustice against others eventually catches up with everyone.
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In his caption, he didn’t hold back. He said people love talking about the nation with pride, but in reality stay divided along lines of religion, caste, class and language. According to him, India has always put community loyalty ahead of national unity, and that’s exactly what makes it so hard for people to come together when it actually matters. He pointed to fear, apathy and a “look out for yourself” mindset as the real barriers.
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He also took aim at how little people trust that others will show up for them in tough times, which he says feeds a mindset where everyone just focuses on their own survival. Abhay went further, saying that poverty in India isn’t only about money. It’s also a poverty of thinking, a willingness to settle for the bare minimum instead of pushing for something better.
He urged people to stop blaming movies or the media and instead have real, uncomfortable conversations with their own families about the beliefs they hold. The real gap, he said, isn’t between religions or castes but between old mindsets and a newer generation ready for change. People need to evolve with the times, he warned, or risk getting left behind. He ended by pointing out that injustice and violence aren’t new to India, but things have now reached a point where even those who used to look away can’t anymore.
Abhay last appeared in the 2023 web series “Trial By Fire,” alongside Ashish Vidyarthi, Anupam Kher, Rajshri Deshpande, Rajesh Tailang, Ratna Pathak Shah, Shilpa Shukla and Shardul Bharadwaj. The show is based on the book “Trial by Fire: The Tragic Tale of the Uphaar Fire Tragedy” by Neelam Krishnamoorthy and Shekhar Krishnamoorthy, and retells the story of the Uphaar Cinema fire and the families’ long fight for justice.
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