When you express solidarity with others, you come back strengthened. That’s something Shabana Azmi always believed in. And the veteran actor experienced it over the past three days as she joined the ongoing protests — led by Abhijeet Dipke’s Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) — at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, demanding education reforms and the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper leak.
Since July 19, Azmi has been at Jantar Mantar, even joining thousands of youth in the Chalo Sansad march on July 20. Talking to mid-day from New Delhi, she said, “These young people have been pushed to the wall, and they have chosen to resist with courage and dignity.”
Shabana Azmi with the protesters
The actor criticised the police that resorted to lathi charge and tear gas even as the students protested peacefully on Monday. According to Dipke, over 150 protesters were undergoing treatment in hospital due to the violence. Expressing her disapproval over the police’s handling of the situation, Azmi said, “What impressed me most was that despite their pain, their anger, and the provocation, the students remained determined to protest peacefully. The tear gas and lathi charge were completely unwarranted and condemnable. Who treats young students this way when all they are asking for is dialogue?”
A dialogue with the students, in fact, is what Azmi and her husband, noted writer and lyricist Javed Akhtar — both former members of the Rajya Sabha — sought from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Azmi revealed that they wrote a letter to the PM, urging him to understand the students’ concerns.
Sonam Wanghchuk was forcibly removed from Jantar Mantar on July 20 when his health deteriorated. Pics/AFP, PTI, Instagram
We received an acknowledgement, saying that we would get a reply within two days. When four days passed without any response, I decided to go to Delhi in support of the students. We are constantly told that our youth are our greatest strength. Then why were their voices not even being heard? When I went to Jantar Mantar, I saw hope and strength. We often dismiss Gen Z as careless or disengaged. I think the failure is ours. We have failed to provide them with the leadership that inspires trust. Yet today they are inspiring us, even to the extent of risking their own lives for what they believe is right,” said Azmi, referring to the protesters’ hunger strike.
The actor’s participation has been criticised by some sections, who claimed her presence was giving a political colour as she is seen as aligned with Left-wing politics. “I have never been a member of any political party,” she asserted, before adding that a patriot must hold those in power accountable for the betterment of the country. “Democracy is strengthened by questioning, not weakened by it. I’ve been called many things over the years. Both Javed and I are criticised with equal intensity by Hindu and Muslim fundamentalists, which says something about our refusal to belong to any ideological camp. The real question is not what people call me. The real question is whether young citizens asking for dialogue deserve to be heard.”
Shabana Azmi at Jantar Mantar
Hearing their concerns and acting on them is the need of the hour, Azmi insisted. For her, the students are the “real story”. “Throughout history, young people have been the harbingers of change. They are our greatest investment. Let us nurture them, undertake the educational reforms they have been demanding, overhaul a system that too often fails them, and give every young Indian an equal opportunity to realise their potential.”