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Mumbai: As student protests continue to dominate headlines and social media, several celebrities have been questioned over their silence. Aamir Khan’s daughter Ira Khan has now addressed why she chose not to speak about the issue despite being vocal about mental health.

In a video shared on Instagram, Ira admitted that she was aware of the protests but didn’t feel she had anything meaningful to contribute to the conversation.

“I usually don’t look at the news,” she said, adding that she also avoids watching videos related to such incidents because she doesn’t want to be emotionally influenced without completely understanding the situation.

Beginning her video, Ira addressed the question many had been asking: why she had not spoken about the protests sooner. “Why am I not speaking up about the protests? It’s true that I advocate for mental health, and I ask for your attention whenever I speak on these topics. And I think that mental health is all of life. So I guess, in a way, I’ve chosen to say things and speak up about certain things. There are a couple of reasons why I haven’t, and I’m going to do my best to articulate them,” she said.

Explaining her silence, Ira said she initially felt she had little to contribute to the conversation and had deliberately stayed away from distressing news coverage. “The first that comes to my mind is that I didn’t think I had anything to say that was going to add to the conversation in any meaningful manner, especially because I’m not having feelings about it. And that’s something that I do actively with all news. I usually just don’t look at it. I don’t go to my Explore page. I have not seen any videos of violence or any videos of the protests. I know that they’re happening, and I know what is happening, I think. But I don’t let it emotionally reach me because it really bothers me, and I get overwhelmed, and I start feeling really helpless.”

She further explained that, instead of constantly following the news, she prefers to channel her energy into understanding how individuals can make a difference within their own capacity. “So my way of not getting overwhelmed and helpless, but still not ignoring things, is that I divert my energy and my focus, whatever I have in me, into the attempt to figure out: how can an individual person navigate the best they can with what they have in their individual capacity, outside of any system or regardless of any system? I’m not saying this is the best approach, but this is what I do. I don’t look at the news, and I don’t look at social media. I purposefully spend time and energy focusing on, regardless of the topic, regardless of the system, regardless of the kind of discrimination or unfairness or whatever I may think and feel, I shift my energy that way.”

‘I really have not had feelings about this,’ she said.

Recalling how she briefly panicked after seeing a video that reportedly showed her cousin being detained during a protest, she said she realised she had unconsciously been distancing herself from the events. “My feelings still haven’t reached me. I know that I got sent one reel, and the story was that my cousin was in it. I saw the reel, and it was that she was potentially being detained at one of the protests, and I freaked out. And as soon as I realised she was safe, again, I was like, ‘Okay,’ and I went back to work. So I’m sure there are feelings, but they’re not reaching me. I did not say anything because I didn’t realize that me saying anything would make a difference. And so, if me not speaking up at this point implied in any manner that I don’t care, then I’m sorry. That was not my intention. While I’m not fully feeling anything, if there was any doubt, I would like to clarify that I do care.”

She concluded by expressing, “Something I’m feeling, something I’m closer to feeling, is that I’m worried about how this is going to progress. And I really hope that it ends with the least amount of emotional, psychological, and physical pain possible for anybody.”

Ira further clarified that her silence shouldn’t be mistaken for indifference. She said that while she believes it’s important to comment on issues that matter, she prefers to remain quiet when she has nothing valuable to add.

Her explanation comes at a time when public anger against celebrities is growing, with many stars being called out for speaking only after the student protests gained nationwide attention. While some may appreciate Ira’s honesty, others could argue that people with massive platforms should use their reach to amplify the voices of students, even if they don’t have anything new to say.