Prateek Tanmay
4 min readNew DelhiJul 21, 2026 06:36 PM IST
Veteran actor Shabana Azmi has emerged as one of the few film personalities to publicly back the protest led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and educator Sonam Wangchuk, demanding Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation over the alleged NEET-UG question paper leak earlier this year. Unlike several others who expressed support on social media, Azmi joined the protesters during the ‘Chalo Sansad’ march on July 20. Later, Azmi shared a video on social media showing herself and actor Prakash Raj travelling in a truck with CJP’s Abhijeet Dipke.
In an interview, Azmi speaks about supporting the CJP movement, a health emergency she faced during the protest, and her past work related to slum dweller rehabilitation.
Your recent support for Sonam Wangchuk and the CJP has led many to see you as an opponent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi?
I’m wrongly being portrayed as someone opposed to PM Modi. In the past, I have called out the Congress for activist Safdar Hashmi’s murder, and for the Navara Haq (slum rehabilitation project) for which I was on a five-day hunger strike in Mumbai. I protested against Congress’ HKL Bhagat at the International Film Festival of India in Delhi in 1989, and even against the Left after Hashmi’s death. I have never indulged in partisan politics and have steadfastly refused to be a member of any political party.
From Navara Haq to students’ rights, the fire still burns bright within you. What prompted you to support Dipke and Wangchuk’s movement?
Like I said, I have never belonged to a political party and never will. I believe that puts the fetters on you as the party’s truth becomes your truth. I came to Jantar Mantar in solidarity with the students who have been on a hunger strike for over 20 days and whose health is now failing. What they are demanding is not sinister or evil. Students are asking for educational reforms to safeguard their future and an overhaul of the education system. Demanding that an allocation of 6 percent of the GDP for education is urgently required. Listen to them, give them an ear, and give them hope. Unka hausla badhaiye isse crush karne ki koshish mat kijiye (boost their hope, don’t crush it).
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What does Javed Saab have to say about your involvement with Dipke’s protest?
Javed Saab and I had written a letter to the PM on 15th July asking that they should initiate a dialogue with Sonam Wangchuk. We gave an assurance that we weren’t going public with the letter, that we were urging him in confidence. We received a reply saying we would hear back in two days. We waited and waited, and then finally came here.
You had a spell of dizziness at Jantar Mantar, clearly your spirit is willing but your flesh is not.
I am an asthmatic and got an attack because of the tear gas, but I had my pump with me so I am ok now. I was respectfully escorted to a nearby building and after catching my breath, I went right back and spoke to the students who had been lathicharged. Their spirit is unprecedented. My salaams to all of them.
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Seeing Wangchuk’s hunger protest, are you reminded of your own five-day hunger strike for slum dwellers?
My hunger strike with the slum dwellers of Sangharsh Nagar was in May 1986 at the height of Mumbai’s heat. It was only for five days. Shashi Kapoor met the then Maharashtra Chief Minister SB Chavan, and that very evening the Home Minister agreed to our terms. We secured alternative housing for the basti because the land was always available. Here, the students have been on hunger strike for 23 days and nobody from the Government is willing to even hear them out. Is it a sin to ask for accountability? Our Constitution is one of the best in the world. Honour it is what is being asked for. It is the basic right of every Indian.
