Vismaya Mohanlal says stands firm on backing student protest
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Kochi: Author Vismaya Mohanlal, daughter of actor Mohanlal, has reaffirmed her support for the student protest at Delhi's Jantar Mantar, insisting she stands by her earlier remarks despite intense online backlash and criticism over her political awareness.
Speaking in an interview with the YouTube channel FTQ with Rekha Menon, Vismaya said her position remains unchanged, maintaining that India is a democracy where everyone has the right to question authority and raise their voice. She stressed that dialogue must prevail over the use of force and argued that politics should never take precedence over humanity, adding that her stand would remain the same regardless of which party is in power.
Vismaya had earlier condemned the police action against protesters led by student organisations, including the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), in Delhi. In an Instagram post, she questioned the state of democracy if those demanding their rights were met with suppression instead of dialogue and criticised the treatment of citizens by the authorities.
The post triggered a wave of online attacks from supporters of the Central government and the ruling party. Amid the controversy, filmmaker Major Ravi defended Vismaya, claiming she lacked a proper understanding of Indian politics because she was raised in Vietnam and was unaware of the alleged political conspiracy behind the protest, describing her reaction as a purely humanitarian response to scenes of police action.
Vismaya has now rejected that characterisation, asserting that her comments were made independently and with full conviction.