Five days before she reached Jantar Mantar, Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar had written to PM Modi as concerned citizens and former nominated members of the Rajya Sabha, urging him to begin a dialogue with Sonam Wangchuk and the students. The letter was emailed, faxed and personally delivered, and an acknowledgement promised a response within two days.

When no reply came, Azmi decided to join the protest herself. “We waited two days, then three, then four. On the fifth day, I decided I would come here,” she said at Jantar Mantar on Monday.

Azmi maintained that her presence was never about herself. Standing in solidarity with the students, she said her presence was meant to draw attention to the young people who had shown the courage to raise their voices.

She also rejected claims that the students were being used for political ends. Speaking to a news channel, she said, “It was a sea of young people. I have never seen such a scene in my life… I have never been involved with any political party. I have never been a member of any political party. On record, I’m telling you, nor do I intend to be. I have never been a member of any political party because I have always believed that joining a political party means the party’s truth becomes your truth, which could be a one-sided truth. When I was in Parliament, we (she and Javed Akhtar) were Presidential nominees. We were with no party.”

About the protesters, Shabana Azmi told reporters at Jantar Mantar, “They are saying violence kiya, jo bilkul sachh nahi hai . Ek tarfa jo sach bata rahe hain woh nainsaafi ho rahi hai yahan.”

When asked how she responds to being repeatedly labelled anti-national, she said, “Iss baat ko dil se nahi lagana chahiye. Mujhe kitni baar anti-national kaha gaya hai.”

At 75, Azmi said she sees speaking out not as activism but as a moral compulsion. “Main hamesha nahi bolti hoon. Jab paani hadd se guzar jata hai, jab mujhe koi cheez andar se jhinjhorti hai tab bolti hoon... ab meri 75 saal umar ho gayi hai, main bahut kuch dekh chhuki hoon.”

She added that she understands the resolve required for a hunger strike because she has experienced it herself. In May 1986, she joined filmmaker Anand Patwardhan and activist Gurubai Bhaskar Hamza in a five-day hunger strike demanding rehabilitation for slum dwellers displaced from Colaba in Mumbai. The protest was successful.

Throughout the protest, Azmi posted several videos from Jantar Mantar and recited a verse by her father, Kaifi Azmi: “Koi toh sood chukaye, koi toh zimma le, uss inqalab ka jo aaj tak udhaar sa hai.”