Veteran Bollywood actor Shabana Azmi, 75 lent her voice to the growing student movement on Monday as she joined the Cockroach Janta Party’s ‘Sansad Chalo’ march to Parliament. Her participation came as a strong show of support for the ongoing protests against the alleged NEET paper leak and for larger reforms in the country’s education system.
A day before the march, Azmi was also present at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar where she stood in solidarity with students who have been protesting for weeks. The core demand of the agitation is the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan whom the protesters hold responsible for repeated irregularities in national-level entrance examinations.
The ‘Sansad Chalo’ demonstration was spearheaded by CJP leader Abhijeet Dipke and Gitanjali Angmo an activist and the wife of social reformer Sonam Wangchuk .
Wangchuk himself could not take part in Monday’s march. He was admitted to Safdarjung Hospital after Delhi Police allegedly detained and removed him from the protest site on Saturday. Despite his hospitalization, Wangchuk continues to be on an indefinite hunger strike inside the hospital as part of the movement.
Azmi was not alone. Several other members of the film and art fraternity have also come out in support of the students, calling for the protests to remain non-violent and democratic .Their presence at Jantar Mantar and during the march has added significant public attention to the students’ cause.
Speaking to PTI while walking with the protesters toward Parliament, Azmi underlined the constitutional basis of the demonstration.
“We are here to hold a peaceful protest. This is a right guaranteed by our Constitution. Mahatma Gandhi taught us the path of non-violence. We have no intention of resorting to violence,” she said.
She walked shoulder-to-shoulder with students, teachers, and civil society members as they raised slogans demanding transparency, accountability, and a fair examination system.
The protests have gained momentum in the last few weeks, with students across the country demanding a probe into paper leaks, stricter accountability from the National Testing Agency, and systemic reforms in higher education. The march to Parliament was seen as an attempt to take the students’ voice directly to lawmakers during the ongoing session.
With public figures like Shabana Azmi joining, the movement has moved beyond campuses and into national discourse, keeping pressure on the government to respond.
