'Malicious Garbage': Shilpa Shetty slams viral fake reservation statement, adds 'Don't fall for fake news'
After the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP)-led nationwide protests over the NEET paper leak, which eventually led to the resignation of former Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, another student-led campaign has gone viral on social media. This time, the focus has shifted to India's reservation policy.
An Instagram-led movement called Reservation Hatao Andolan (RHA) has emerged, calling for an end to caste-based reservations in India. The campaign has quickly gained traction, with its Instagram page reportedly amassing nearly 5 million followers, making it one of the largest issue-based digital campaigns on the platform.
The movement is not alone. Another account, Reservation Removal Sangh (RSS), has also surfaced with a similar anti-reservation message, although its following remains significantly smaller.
What is Reservation Hatao Andolan?
Reservation Hatao Andolan is a social media campaign opposing caste-based reservation in India. Its supporters argue that admissions to educational institutions and recruitment for government jobs should be based on merit, marks and ability rather than caste.
The campaign also advocates financial assistance for economically weaker students, arguing that government support should be based on economic need instead of caste. It promotes slogans such as "Reservation is discrimination" while positioning itself as a movement for merit-based opportunities.
Supporters have said they want to expand the Instagram campaign into a nationwide public movement, similar in scale to the recent CJP-led agitation.
Shilpa Shetty reacts to viral fake reservation post
Amid the growing online debate, an Instagram story of Shilpa Shetty went viral that showed Shilpa strongly reacting to reservation hatao
The screenshot claimed she had written, "Don't touch reservation. Let general category doctors treat only general category patients and let everyone else treat only patients from their own caste. Do this for a few years, and people will start asking to end caste-based reservation themselves. You can't get skill through reservation."
After the screenshot went viral, clarifying that she had never made the statement.
Sharing a note on Tuesday, she wrote, "I am shocked to see fake statements on reservation falsely attached to my name. This is completely fabricated, malicious garbage. Do not fall for this fake news!"
Although the screenshot closely resembled her Instagram profile because of a similar display picture and layout, it was AI-generated and fake.
Earlier, actor Vijay Varma was also targeted by a similar fake social media post on reservation and privilege.
As the screenshot gained traction, Vijay took to X (formerly Twitter) to deny the claim, writing, "I never posted this. This is all false." He later reposted the screenshot again, reiterating, "I never posted this. This is not my story."
Shilpa Shetty was last seen in the Kannada film KD: The Devil, starring Dhruva Sarja alongside Sanjay Dutt, V. Ravichandran, Ramesh Aravind, Reeshma Nanaiah and Nora Fatehi.