New Delhi:
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju has launched a strong attack on actor Naseeruddin Shah, calling him a “dangerous urban Naxal” and a “subversive intellectual” after the 76-year-old actor released a video backing protesting university students.
Rijiju said he had misjudged the actor’s leanings for years and called his conduct a threat to the nation’s democratic fabric.
“I used to respect and like Naseeruddin Shah, thinking he was just an ordinary actor. I had no idea that he was a dangerous urban Naxal, a subversive intellectual. I discovered his true character far too late. He is extremely detrimental to India’s democracy,” the Union minister said in a post on X.
His remarks came in response to a video posted on Facebook on Tuesday, in which Shah came out in support of Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia students who have been protesting for the restoration of their students’ union.
Wearing a badge inscribed with the words ‘Dimagi Naxal’, a visibly upset Shah criticised the BJP government in the Centre.
“I proudly declare that I am Dimagi Naxal. I don’t know what other nicknames the watchmen have given to people like me, anti-national, tukde tukde gang, and I don’t know what else,” Shah said in Hindi in the video.
I thought Naseeruddin Shah was just an ordinary actor. I used to respect & like him.. I never knew that he was a dangerous urban Dimagi Naxal ! मुझे उसके असली चरित्र के बारे में बहुत देर से पता चला।। भारत के लोकतंत्र के लिए अत्यंत हानिकारक है। https://t.co/McSDNBJjPt
— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) October 28, 2026
‘Dimagi Naxal’ was a term first used by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a speech and subsequently picked up by ruling party leaders to take a swipe at the Opposition as hardcore Maoist supporters despite having education that could have made them consider taking better paths.
Challenging the administration over its handling of campus protests across the country, the actor questioned the Centre’s intent toward young Indians and public institutions. “…I want to ask this government a question. What else will you do to break the courage of our country’s youth, to destroy the education system, and to put our democracy at risk? How much will you do? How far will you go?” he said.
The actor invoked some lines from literature in drawing a pattern of unrest across higher education campuses.
“First Jawaharlal Nehru University, then Satyajit Ray Film Institute, and now Jamia Millia. The atrocities that are being done on students will be remembered. Everything will be remembered,” he said, before reciting the verse, “Dekhna hai zor kitna baazu-e-qaatil mein hai”, from freedom fighter Bismil Azimabadi’s poem “Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamare dil mein hai.”
Shah has frequently used social media videos in recent months to back student protests. Last week, he voiced solidarity with students at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) in Kolkata, who have been sitting on an indefinite protest following incidents of violence on their campus. In July, he criticised the government over its response to protests concerning the NEET paper leak.
At Jamia Millia Islamia, where student union elections have not been conducted since 2006 due to campus violence, the students are demanding a fixed schedule for polls along with a firm deadline to ratify the union’s constitution.
