Shabana Azmi, Bollywood super-star and activist here in New York to push the HungerFREE campaign at the United Nations, gave her first interview today to Time Magazine’s World Editor Bobby Ghosh, and a Time.com reporter – pictured. Bobby grew up in India and said he spent the last four years on assignment in Iraq where Shabana’s films are being seen for the first time round – and making a big impression.
Bobby was particularly interested to know Shabana’s views on the state of activism in India. In his view he felt that civil society is a more powerful and visible force in India than when we was growing up, but he wanted to know what kind of impact it’s making. Shabana has been an activist on some ‘untouchable’ Indian issues. She raised AIDS awareness over twenty years ago.
Shabana said “empowerment is about participation in the decision-making process”, and cited the example of the southern state of Kerala whose healthcare, education and food rights had benefited from an empowered society, and particularly from investment in women’s programmes. But she said more needed to be done because “the sun is not shining equally on all Indians”.
And she said the ActionAid HungerFREE campaign is a campaign with tangible objectives that will make a big impact on reducing unacceptable levels of hunger – where one in four go hungry every day. Shabana also said that the new Indian middle class – many of whom will remember poverty themselves – could do more about ending poverty in India.
One of the key objectives of HungerFREE is to put an end to corporate abuse, and Shabana told them of the impact of ActionAid campaigning against Vedanta, a UK-registered company, that has already spent $805 million investing in bauxite mining in the hills of Niyamgri, Orissa, without properly consulting with the local Dabu Miahi’s tribe, whose whole way of life is threatened, not to mention the environmental devastation of these hills – one of which, the Mountain of Niyamgiri, is venerated as a living God. We’re awaiting a supreme court ruling on whether the mining is allowed to continue. If Shabana has her way it most certainly will not.
