Alia Bhatt backs students amid NEET protest in heartfelt note: “Their courage humbles me”

Actor Alia Bhatt has become the latest celebrity to speak out on the ongoing protests over the alleged NEET paper leak and the violence reported during demonstrations at Delhi's Jantar Mantar. In an emotional note shared on Instagram, the actor expressed solidarity with the students and praised their courage and determination. Reflecting on the developments over the past few days, Alia wrote that the events had left her heartbroken while also giving her hope. "The last few days have broken my heart and then mended it, again and again, with hope," she wrote. Alia Bhatt says students represent hope and sacrifice The actor said every student participating in the movement represents years of hard work, sacrifice, and the aspirations of their families. She added that their fight extends beyond their own future and could create a better path for generations to come: "Behind every student standing their ground is a dream, a family's hope, a journey of countless sacrifi...

‘It has become a sort of silver bullet’: why are rap lyrics being put on trial?

In compelling documentary As We Speak, a controversial legal practice that uses rap lyrics to secure convictions is explored

In September 2001, McKinley Phipps Jr, also known as the rapper Mac, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for manslaughter. It had been a year and a half since gunfire erupted outside a club where he was slated to perform in Slidell, Louisiana, resulting in the death of 19-year-old Barron Victor Jr. Phipps, then 22, maintained his innocence, and the case against him was weak – there was no gun linking him to the crime, several witnesses recanted their testimony and another person confessed to pulling the trigger. And yet, prosecutors had their trump card: Mac, a former New Orleans rap prodigy who began releasing music at the age of 13, had rapped about murder.

“Murder, murder, kill, kill”, Phipps recites in As We Speak: Rap Music on Trial, a new documentary on the criminalization of rap lyrics. Prosecutors spliced that line with one from a different song – “Pull the trigger, put a bullet in your head” – to create the portrait of a killer; Mac’s art was the evidence that DNA, solid confessions, or a missing weapon couldn’t provide. An all-white jury bought it. Phipps served over 21 years in prison before being granted clemency in 2021.

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