# Piyush Mishra calls out Naseeruddin Shah over selective activism 2026-10-05T07:52:23+00:00 | Entertainment | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets Actor Piyush Mishra has questioned Naseeruddin Shah's silence on the bravery of pilot Smit Machchhar and the recent unrest at Lovely Professional University, after Shah attended a protest by the Cockroach Janta Party in Mumbai on 5 October. In a video that went viral, Mishra accused Shah of selective activism. Mishra specifically asked Shah to comment on Captain Smit Machchhar, who was stabbed by his co-pilot on a Flydubai flight but saved 174 passengers. He also demanded Shah address the situation at LPU, where clashes broke out in late September. Mishra recalled Shah's earlier remarks about learning from students, saying the LPU students also needed a message. Mishra also referred to a past Jharkhand student protest, saying Shah sent a poem instead of practical help. The exchange is the latest in an ongoing public disagreement between the two actors over celebrity activism. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Times Now and Hindustan Times both report the same event with near-identical framing, treating the video as news and attributing Mishra's accusations directly. Neither outlet assesses the validity of the charges or offers independent context on the CJP protest, Smit Machchhar's incident, or the LPU unrest. The coverage is uniform straight reporting: both lead with the video, quote Mishra at length, and note the earlier feud. A reader gets the facts of Mishra's challenge but no verification of the claims. The key open question is whether Naseeruddin Shah will respond. ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral - timesnownews.com (neutral report) Leads with Mishra's video and quotes without slant. - hindustantimes.com (neutral report) Leads with Mishra's video and quotes without slant. This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Tags: Cockroach Janta Party, Lovely Professional University, Naseeruddin Shah, Piyush Mishra, Smit Machchhar Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/piyush-mishra-calls-out-naseeruddin-shah-over-selective-activism/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/piyush-mishra-calls-out-naseeruddin-shah-over-selective-activism/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/