Guwahati: Bollywood actor Rajkummar Rao has expressed solidarity with students in expressing their concern over the alleged paper leak in the NEET-UG exam and wanting Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to be held accountable.
Actor Rajkumar Rao, in an Instagram post, expressed his support to the protests at Jantar Mantar organized by the CJP, which have been ongoing for a while now, in protest of Pradhan's alleged irregularities in the medical entrance examination.
“Education is the foundation of any progressive nation. Every student deserves a fair chance. My heart goes out to those fighting for this basic right,” Rao wrote.
But, his post came under criticism on social media platforms by some netizens , who accused him of hypocrisy after seeing his appearance in the government-sponsored music video “Modi Hai Toh Mumkin Hai” that was released in September 2024.
One Instagram user commented that they had lost respect for the actor because of his participation in what they described as a “propaganda song”.
Instead of ignoring the criticism, Rao engaged directly with the criticism in a comment, which has been removed. The National Award-winning actor, in defending his position, stated that he didn't appear in the promotional video for that video to express his personal beliefs or ideology.
“I can never sell my soul, brother,” Rao wrote. “One song does not define who I am, what I stand for or what my ideologies in life are. You can never know the pressure.”
He further added, “I stand for what is right and what keeps us united as human beings. As long as my conscience is clean and I work the hardest, nothing else matters. People who know me personally know who I am, and hopefully one day I’ll be able to earn back your respect.”
Rao joins several members of the film industry who have publicly backed the NEET-UG protesters, including Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, Sonakshi Sinha, Fatima Sana Shaikh, imran Khan, Raftaar and Vijay Varma, all of whom have voiced support for educational reforms and greater accountability over the examination malpractices.