CJP Protest At Jantar Mantar: Why Do Actors Stay Silent On National Issues? Ajay Devgn's Co-Star Inayat Explains

Actor Inayat Sood, who has been part of projects like the Ajay Devgn-led De De Pyaar De and the Karishma Tanna-led Scoop, has taken to Instagram to explain why actors usually remain silent on national matters, such as the current CJP protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar

, which primarily demands Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation. However, she said that artists must unlearn past behaviour and speak up now.

Inayat Sood wrote, “Actors have inherited silence. We’ve inherited this idea that opinions cost careers, that neutrality is professionalism, that if you care too loudly you’ll become difficult to cast. Maybe that’s true. I’ve been told it is. And maybe it’s easier for me to say all this, cause I don’t have too much of a career to lose yet.”

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She continued, “We’re told that saying nothing is the smartest thing to do. ‘Don’t be too political.’ And I get it. We didn’t invent this fear. We inherited it. We’ve watched generations of artists before us choose silence. Maybe because they had something to lose… But I could lose every acting credit I’ve ever had and still know that I’m an actor.”

The actor added, “If four years passed without a single role, I’d still wake up believing I belonged to this craft. But if I stopped caring about the world around me, I don’t think I’d still be an artist. The first thing theatre taught me wasn’t acting. It taught me empathy. To sit with people unlike myself. To understand them. To care about them. That’s art, isn’t it?”

Also Read: FTII Students Mock Chairman R Madhavan Over Silence On CJP Protest, Put ‘NEET For Sale’ Posters On His Door

Inayat mentioned that in this age of influence and online content, there is no lack of information and that we only pretend not to know things. She said if an artist has an online presence, they are witnessing injustice and courage online too. “That’s why silence feels different today. Silence used to mean you didn’t know. Today, it usually means you’ve chosen not to say anything,” she explained.

She mentioned Sonam Wangchuk and the protestors at Jantar Mantar and wrote, “I don’t want us to become a country that only remembers people after they’ve sacrificed themselves. I don’t want courage to have to starve itself before we decide to pay attention.” She wondered when artists became so afraid of showing that they care. “We’re literally in the business of being human,” she added.

The actor mentioned, “We’ve seen too many artists, influencers, creators, and actors choose silence when they could have done or said more. It’s hard to unlearn that. It’s hard not to choose safety when that’s what we’ve inherited. We’ve inherited that fear. We see what happens to people who challenge it. But there are ways to show up.”

“Care about something. Choose what you believe in. Speak about it. At the very least, make a post. Better yet, show up. Protest. Listen. Learn. Be physically present when you can. Silence doesn’t have to be the thing we inherit,” she concluded. Actors like Dia Mirza, Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub, Ayesha Raza and Nakuul Mehta agreed with the post and lauded Inayat Sood.