Film personalities join hands demanding release of students and activists

New Delhi: Over 20 celebrities, including Anurag Kashyap, Vishal Bhardwaj, Mahesh Bhatt and Ratna Pathak Shah, joined hands to urge "Delhi Police to stop abusing the lockdown" and put an "end to the witch-hunt" against "students and activists protesting against CAA".

The Bollywood personalities on Sunday released a statement on Twitter.

"To fight this pandemic, the citizens and authorities need to stand by each other. By targeting activists taking advantage of the lockdown, when there is hardly even any media coverage of its actions, the Delhi Police is betraying the civic rights of the citizens. We urge the Delhi Police to stop abusing the lockdown, respect the human rights of our fellow citizens and put an end to this witch-hunt. We demand the release of these students and activists," read the statement. The 29 signatories include Mahesh Bhatt, Aparna Sen, Ratna Pathak Shah, Anurag Kashyap, Vishal Bhardwaj, Vishal Dadlani, Nandita Das, Konkona Sen Sharma, Hansal Mehta, Onir, Sushant Singh, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Mallika Dua, and many others.

The statement came as a response to the recent arrest of two students of Jamia Millia Islamia University, Safoora Zargar and Meeran Haider.

"We are shocked to know that in this midst of such a grave situation, the Delhi Police has arrested two students of Jamia Millia Islamia and several activists from localities of north-east Delhi who had participated in peaceful protests against the CAA," the signatories said.