Shabana Azmi suffers asthma attack during CJP protest, said to be due to tear gas
Shabana Azmi suffered an asthma attack after tear gas was fired during the CJP protest in Delhi. She said she had recovered and supported the students during the march.
Veteran actress Shabana Azmi has revealed that she suffered an asthma attack after being exposed to tear gas during the ‘Chalo Sansad’ protest in Delhi on Monday. The 75-year-old actress, who joined the march in support of students demanding action against examination irregularities, said she recovered with the help of her inhaler before returning to meet those injured during the protest.
Azmi was among the few film celebrities who took part in the protests on the ground, supporting teacher Sonam Wangchuk and the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP)-led movement that is demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and reforms in the examination system after the paper leak.
Recalling the incidents at Jantar Mantar, Azmi said that tear gas caused an asthma attack. “I’m an asthmatic and I had an attack because of the tear gas, but I had my pump with me, so I’m fine now,” she said in an interview. Indian Express.
The veteran actor said he was “respectfully taken to a nearby building” after falling ill. Once she recovered, she returned to interact with the students whom she said were lathicharged during the protests.
He said, “Their spirit is phenomenal. My salute to all of them.”
Explaining why she decided to join the protest, Azmi said that she and her husband, lyricist-screenwriter Javed Akhtar, had initially tried to raise the issue with the Prime Minister personally.
He said, “Javed saab and I had written a letter to the PM on July 15 asking that he should initiate talks with Sonam Wangchuk. We had assured that we were not making the letter public, we were requesting him in confidence. We got a reply that we would respond in two days. We waited and waited and then finally here we are.”
Earlier, Azmi had also mentioned seeing tear gas and police action on students during the march. He said the protesters were determined to remain peaceful despite the situation and continued to demand talks with the government.
His participation in the ‘Chalo Sansad’ march made him one of the few members of the film fraternity who participated in the protests in person rather than merely expressing support through social media. He later shared a video of himself traveling with actor Prakash Raj and CJP’s Abhijeet Dubey during the march.
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