Actor-activist Shabana Azmi made a two-day trip to Bhutan as SAARC as their Goodwill Ambassador to create awareness about HIV/AIDS and TB.

The visit was organised by Ministry of Foreign affairs and Ministry of Health, the government of Bhutan and SAARC. Azmi congratulated Bhutan’s Prime Minister, Lyonchen Jigmi Y Thinley on the launch of the unique Gross National Happiness Index that cares for the needs of every citizen.

The Prime Minister was delighted to see that the SAARC Goodwill Ambassador was a lady. The duo had detailed discussions on the subject of AIDS. Meanwhile, students of the Kaifi Azmi Girls School in Mijwan, Uttar Pradesh, bagged the Pratham Sanskritik Puraskar at a national level cultural programme organised by the Nehru Navyuvak Mandal from Rajasthan.

This was the first time these 14 to 16 year-old girls stepped out of their village. Azmi and Namrata Goyal of the Mirjwan Welfare Society were instrumental in convincing their parents to allow them to step out and perform the Natkhat Krishna dance that bagged them first prize.

These girls now feel empowered enough to say that they refuse to get married before the age of 18. “Winning this prize has demonstrated our worth to our parents,” they say.