After condemning the attack on New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) which left more than two dozen injured, Deepika Padukone arrived at the university to stand in solidarity with the students.

Deepika’s presence at the event cause frenzy on social media and the actor received applause from everyone.

Award-winning filmmakers Anurag Kashyap couldn’t praise Deepika enough.

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Others defended the actor after people claimed that this was a publicity stunt on her behalf because her film Chappak is releasing this Friday.

Meanwhile, others commented that she has more guts than all the Khans combined.

After BJP spokesman Tajinder Pal Singh called for a boycott of Deepika’s film #ISupportDeepika began to trend on Twitter.

Previously, in a media interaction when asked about the ongoing protests, Deepika had said that she is proud that the students are not scared of expressing themselves.

“I feel proud about it that people are coming out – be it on the streets or wherever they are – they are raising their voice and expressing themselves as it is important. If we want to see change in life and society, it is important that a point of view be put forward,” Deepika had said.

On Sunday masked assailants wielding batons and iron rods attacked JNU leaving more than two dozen injured. According to an Indian journalist, the masked mob was linked to a BJP linked student group. They barged into hostel rooms and assaulted left-wing students and also beat up visually impaired people. There were reports that they were carrying acid as well.

Deepika’s presence at the protest signifies that she is most likely standing with them in protest of these BJP-linked attacks and not the tuition fees hike protests that had been happening at the university earlier. The hostel fee hike is an ongoing issue and protests were held against it previously.

Following the attack, several Bollywood personalities including Vishal Bharadwaj, Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, Dia Mirza, Rahul Bose, Richa Chadha and Taapsee Pannu led hundreds of people in a peaceful protest against the violence.

Apart from that, Alia Bhatt also condemned the incident.

As did Anil Kapoor, who while speaking to reporters had said, “It has to be condemned. It was quite sad, shocking, what I saw. It was very disturbing. I couldn’t sleep the entire night, thinking what has happened. It has to be condemned. Nothing will come out of violence. Whoever did this, they should be published.”