People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India has named meat-free Bollywood star Adah Sharma its 2024 Person of the Year to honor her efforts to promote an animal-friendly fashion industry, her compassionate action to save elephants from captivity, and her tireless advocacy on behalf of all living beings.

This year, Sharma collaborated with PETA India to present a life-size mechanical elephant to a Kerala temple in honor of its humane decision not to own or hire live elephants for rituals. Sharma also acted in a dramatic anti-leather commercial for the organization, in which she pretended to be “skinned alive” to draw attention to the plight of over 1.4 billion cows, sheep, goats, and millions of other animals slain mercilessly each year for their skin. She aggressively encourages her nearly 10 million Instagram followers to wear animal-friendly clothing, having previously modeled sustainable trends in PETA India’s first vegan fashion lookbook.

Adah Sharma’s commitment to animal welfare is diverse and unwavering. Over the years, she has hosted a Christmas party for chickens rescued from the slaughterhouse knife, advocated for the abolition of horse-drawn carriages in Mumbai, caged herself in an appeal to everyone to let birds fly free, and starred as a mermaid in the group’s campaign to encourage people to stop eating fish.

“Once you realize the many similarities we share with other animals, who each feel love, pain, joy, and fear just as we do, it’s only natural to want to do everything in your power to spare them from suffering. I am proud to stand with PETA India in encouraging kindness and respect for all thinking, and feeling beings” said the actress.

 Some of the past recipients of PETA India’s Person of the Year Award include former Supreme Court Justice KS Panicker Radhakrishnan, cricketer Virat Kohli, comedian Kapil Sharma, and actors Dia Mirza, Alia Bhatt, John Abraham, Anushka Sharma, Sunny Leone, Sonakshi Sinha, R Madhavan, Jacqueline Fernandez, Hema Malini, and Sonam Kapoor Ahuja. 

Congratulations Adah!!

Priyanka Dutta