
Shabana Azmi has always been an active social
activist. Shabana is known to raise her voice against various social issues,
but her attention goes to women and child-related issues. Shabana has advocated
for the cause of slum dwellers, victims of Latur earthquake, and displaced
Kashmiri Pandits.involved in the process of making a change. Shabana involved with Nivara Haq, which is a housing
rights organisation and in May 1986, I went on a hunger strike with Anand
Patwardhan and three other slum dwellers demanding alternative land for a slum
in south Bombay. It was unheard of at that time that a female actress be
involved in social issues to this extent. Five days later, the government
agreed and allocated alternate land. This propelled her into social work
following which I did a lot of work with Nivara Haq and then I got completely
involved with her father’s NGO, Mijwan Welfare Society.
Way
back in 1989, she took a four-day march against communalism from Delhi to
Meerut. In 1998, Shabana Azmi was appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador of the
United Nations Population Fund as well for the HIV/AIDS programme for the SAARC
region. Today, Shabana Azmi runs an NGO named Mijwan Welfare Society in
Azamgarh district, UP, which works for the underprivileged children. Under Mijwan,
she has set up a school, a college, a computer centre, and a sewing centre in a
small remote village. She also organizes various fund-raising activities. Actor Shabana Azmi spelled her vision of an
India driven by social change, where dissent, debate and differing voices are
welcome.
“Are you satisfied with the way
world is? If not, then work towards your idea of worldview, work towards your
idea of social change through dissent, contesting voices and debate!” – Shabana
Azmi
- Navpreet Kaur