After days of protests against the NEET paper leak by students, on July 25, Dharmendra Pradhan finally gave his resignation. While several celebrities lauded the youth for having the courage to seek accountability and question what was wrong, PM Narendra Modi also addressed the nation and ensured stringent measures towards the betterment and future of education system in India. Now, Anupam Kher has also reacted to everything that happened and while he appreciated the fact that democracy won and the voices were heard, he expressed disappointment towards the harsh language used for PM Narendra Modi, which also included people abusing him in several videos which have gone viral on the internet. Kher took to his Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) and shared a video, in which he said, “Andolan samapth ho gaya, bohot si baatein spasht ho gayi, yeh saabit ho gaya ke jab chaatra apni baat imaandaari se rakhte hai toh loktantra unhein sunta hai. Shayad yeh samwaad pehle ho sakta tha, shayad tab paristhitiyan yahan tak nahi pahunchti. Lekin samadhan nikla aur yehi loktantra ki sabse badi shakti hai. Ab samay hai ki hum aage badhe, desh kisi ek andolan par nahi ruk sakta. Desh ko bhavishya ki or badhna hi hota hai.(“So, the movement has ended, and many things have become clear. It has also been proved that when students stand by their words with complete honesty and determination, democracy listens to them. Perhaps this conversation could have happened earlier. Perhaps then the situation would not have reached this point. But in the end, a solution emerged. This is the greatest strength of democracy. Now it is time for us to move forward. The country cannot stop at a single movement. The country has to move towards the future).” He added further, “Lekin iss puri ghanta mein ek baat ne hum sabko bheetar tak dukhi kiya hai. Maybe sabko nahi par sirf hum sabko dukhi kiya hai, sabko nahi par mujhe kiya hai. Camera ke saamne sarvajanik mancho par jis Tarah se bharat ke pradhaan matri shree Narendra Modi ji ke liye apmaanjanak aur ashobhniye bhasha ka prayog kiya gaya, use dekhkar mann vyathit hua. Yeh keval kisi ek vyakti ka prashn nahi hai. Yeh uss sanskriti ka prashn hai jise hum aane wali peedhiyon ke liye chhodkar jaana chahiye. Loktantra hamein asahmati ka adhikaar deta hai lekin asamman ka nahi. Hum kisi ki neta se asamarth ho sakte hai, unse sawaal puch sakte hai. Yehi toh loktantra ki aatma hai. Lekin jab tark samaapt ho jaate hai aur gaaliyaan shuru ho jaati hai. Tab behes nahi bajhti, sirf shor bajta hai (But in this entire event, one thing has saddened me. Maybe not everyone, but it has saddened me. The way the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, was insulted and disrespected in front of the camera. Seeing that, I was upset. This is not just a question of one person. This is a question of the culture we want to leave for the coming generations. Democracy gives us the right to disagree, but not the right to disrespect. It does not give us the right to disrespect. We can disagree with any leader. We can criticise their policies. We can ask them questions. This is the spirit of democracy. But when arguments end and abuses begin, there is no debate. Only noise remains)Kher elaborated more and said, “Shri Narendra Modi ji pichle 30 varsh se saarvajanik Jeevan mein hai, desh ki janta ne unhein baar baar vishwaas diya hai. Unhone apna pura Jeevan sarvajanik seva mein diya hai aur Vishwa manch par Bharat ki aawaz ko ek nayi pehchaan di hai. Hum unke har nirnay se Samarth ho yeh aavashyak nahi hai lekin kisi bhi nirvaachit Pradhaan mantri ke pad ki Garima ka sammaan karna, hum sabka daayitva hai. Dukh iss baat ka nahi ke unka virodh hua, loktantra mein virodh swabhaavik hai, dukh iss baat ka hai ke virodh ki bhasha itni chhoti ho gayi. Aur yeh keval yuvaaon tak seemmit nahi tha. Har aayu ke log iss bhasha ka hissa bane. (Narendra Modi has been in public service for the past 30 years. The people of the country have placed their trust in him again and again. He has dedicated his entire life to public service and has given a new identity to India’s voice on the world stage. It is not necessary that we agree with all his decisions. But I think it is our duty to respect the dignity of any elected Prime Minister. I am not saddened that he was opposed. Opposition is natural in a democracy. I am saddened that the language of opposition has become so small. And it was not limited to the youth. People of all ages became part of this fallen language).” Anupam Kher concluded by saying that as a country, we shouldn’t forget out culture. “When we forget dignity, how can we expect values from the coming generations? We often say that we want to make India a world guru. But a world guru is not only a leader in economics, science, or technology. To become a world guru, one must also have elevated thinking and elevated language. Should we disagree? Of course we should. Should we ask questions? Of course we should. We should also demand answers from the government. But we should not let our words become so poor that they reveal our character before our ideas do. Because the true identity of any nation lies not only in its leaders, but in the language and behaviour of its citizens. I believe we should build an India where there are differences of opinion but not differences of heart. Where ideas may clash, but values never break. Where the strongest voice of democracy is expressed in the gentlest language of dignity. Because dignity is never a weakness. Dignity is the greatest strength of a civilised nation.Namaskar. Jai Hind.”
