The nationwide clash of students, activists and celebrities with the police in lieu of protests against the Central Government’s recently passed Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) saw an ugly twist especially in parts of Uttar Pradesh where 17 people were reportedly killed in police firing while many were claimed to have been arrested or detained including A Suitable Boy actress Sadaf Jafar.
The news of the arrest of the former teacher and UP Congress media spokesperson attracted immediate attention for the police brutality that was meted out on Sadaf after family reported that she was not only “beaten with a baton on her legs and hands” but, “the police also kicked her on the belly, following which she had internal bleeding.”
“She has been shifted to Lucknow jail now. She was subjected to severe police brutality,” Sadaf’s niece said, according to The Quint.
On Sunday, the filmmaker took to her official Twitter handle to share the news demanding immediate release of the actor. She wrote, “This is our India now – Appalling: our #SuitableBoy actress, Sadaf Jafar, beaten and jailed for peaceful protest in Lucknow! Join me in demanding her release (sic).”
This is our India now – Appalling: our #SuitableBoy actress, Sadaf Jafar, beaten and jailed for peaceful protest in Lucknow! Join me in demanding her release https://t.co/RPxOfYjZ75
— Mira Nair (@MiraPagliNair) December 22, 2019
Many prominent actors and filmmakers from Bollywood industry including Ajay Devgn, Anurag Kashyap, Ayushmann Khurrana, Mahesh Bhatt, Swara Bhasker, Anubhav Sinha, Dia Mirza, Lisa Ray and Parineeti Chopra took to Twitter to condemn the attacks on the students at Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi.
Mira Nair started shooting for the screen adaptation of Vikram Seth’s novel A Suitable Boy in Lucknow on September 7. The film stars Tabu, Ishaan Khatter and newcomer Tanya Maniktala.