Nationwide demonstrations over the NEET-UG 2026 paper leak have paralyzed parts of the capital for weeks. Now, one of Bollywood’s biggest figures is asking the crowds to stand down. On Thursday, Salman Khan posted on X to directly urge students to return to their parents.
He pointed directly to recent assurances from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Khan told his followers he feels confident that strict action is coming against anyone responsible for the leak.
The message marks a noticeable shift in his public stance. Just on Wednesday, Khan condemned the recent street violence while openly praising the youth for demanding a better educational system. The protests, organized largely by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), hit a boiling point during the July 20 ‘Chalo Sansad’ march. Today, the actor says the government’s intervention should be enough.
He specifically referenced the Prime Minister in his appeal, asking activist Sonam Wangchuk to end his 26-day fast. Wangchuk is currently hospitalized at Medanta.
His hunger strike originally began at Jantar Mantar on June 6. Khan aimed his platform at the climate activist with a highly informal, personal request.
According to a verified Thursday update, Khan urged the protesting students to go home and offered to send home-cooked food to Sonam Wangchuk to convince him to eat.
Khan injected a bit of humor into the tense standoff. He told Wangchuk to stop extending the strike, writing: “Sonam, it’s done, bro. Don’t extend this… eat something. If u want, will send u food from home”.
Bollywood’s Role in Protest De-escalation
Celebrity intervention in Indian political movements often acts as a massive cultural pressure valve. The CJP-led protests carried significant momentum into late July, particularly after the July 20 parliamentary march. Khan’s sudden pivot from praising the students’ demands on Wednesday to urging them to disperse on Thursday aligns heavily with the Prime Minister’s recent statements.
Offering home-cooked food to a hospitalized activist is a classic entertainment-industry de-escalation tactic. It shifts the national conversation away from the systemic failure of the NEET-UG 2026 exams and frames the issue around personal health and resolution. If the students actually listen and pack up, it proves that a single Bollywood tweet still holds massive sway over youth political action.