Spine over career: Actor Ayesha Khan to troll warning her against protest support

Dhurandhar actor Ayesha Khan has responded to an online troll who told her that supporting the ongoing Cockroach Janta Party-led NEET protests would cost her work in Bollywood, days after she was detained by Mumbai Police on July 22. Ayesha said she had gone to the protest venue in Mumbai with her brother and friends to show solidarity with students, but was taken into custody before she could join the demonstration.Sharing videos of the incident on Instagram, Ayesha also posted a screenshot of a direct message sent to her after she uploaded clips from the protest. The message read, "No work for you in Bollywood now." In response, Ayesha wrote, "I would rather lose my career than lose my spine. Scare someone else, thank you, bye bye."Ayesha, who rose to prominence with the song Shararat in Dhurandhar, said in a video statement that she and her friends were detained without being told the reason. She said she was dragged and pushed into a police van by force. "I was pulled by four or five women. I used all my strength to try not to get into the van, but they pulled us in. Throughout the ride, we kept asking why we had been detained and what mistake we had made. There was no answer, no accountability, nothing. No one gave any response, and we were taken from Dadar to Worli," she said.In another post, Ayesha shared a video of herself being pushed into the police van and wrote, "Dragged, detained for standing in peace. Asked questions to all the police people present there on why were we being detained? But no answer whatsoever Today will be the most peaceful sleep of my life. I stood for what was right! Still in the police station asking the same question! Why am I detained? Which law did I break? Forget about one’s democratic right, and protecting it, instead you are harming your own citizens, for what? I see shame in some of their eyes, but they are bound by their duties, they know, we know, what’s right and what’s wrong." Ayesha has continued to use social media to voice support for the student protests, regularly sharing posts and updates in solidarity with the movement. For nearly a month, students have been protesting at New Delhi's Jantar Mantar over the alleged NEET-UG paper leak, demanding nationwide education reforms and the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.Meanwhile, activist Sonam Wangchuk ended his hunger strike on Thursday night after the Centre assured him that Parliament would discuss the alleged NEET-UG paper leak and broader examination reforms. The government also assured him that no legal action would be taken against peaceful protesters. - EndsPublished By: shweta keshriPublished On: Jul 24, 2026 13:34 IST