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The Medanta Hospital in Gurugram reported that Sonam Wangchuk was admitted to the intensive care unit after 26 days without solid food during which he lost 11 kilograms. In a video statement released on Wednesday night the activist said many leaders including ministers had appealed to him to end his fast because his work was important to him. Wangchuk added that he would only call off the strike if the government provided assurance that no force or retaliatory action would be used against the students who have shown remarkable restraint.
According to protest organisers the Cockroach Janta Party movement which began as a satirical response to the chief justice’s remarks about unemployed youth has grown into a significant youth-led campaign for education reforms. A series of paper leaks in national entrance tests including the NEET-UG examination that affected more than 22 lakh candidates according to a New Indian Express report has fuelled calls for Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resign. Organisers have insisted the demand for his resignation remains non-negotiable even as Wangchuk’s letter to ministers omitted direct mention of it.
Police figures from Monday’s march toward parliament during the opening of the monsoon session placed the number of injured at 60 among protesters and 118 among officers after clashes involving batons and tear gas. Authorities arrested 70 demonstrators most of whom were later released on bail while also dismantling the protest stage and tents at Jantar Mantar in central Delhi. Despite the crackdown thousands have continued the round-the-clock sit-in at the venue.
The activist who founded the Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh in 1988 according to biographical accounts has long championed alternative education approaches and environmental initiatives such as artificial glaciers known as ice stupas. Wangchuk received the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2018 for his community work and has previously questioned the relevance of mainstream education in remote regions like his home territory. His involvement has drawn national attention to the current student grievances.
Health Minister JP Nadda who visited Wangchuk on Tuesday night stated that he had requested the activist to break his fast join the mainstream and guide children in the right direction while noting the government remained open to discussing the raised issues. Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X on Thursday morning that nothing was more important than the welfare and future of youth announcing fast-track courts to punish those involved in paper leaks. Education Minister Pradhan has in earlier statements to media outlets vowed zero tolerance for malpractices promising computer-based testing from the following year and CBI investigations into the leaks.
Protesters have maintained their presence at Jantar Mantar even after the forcible removal of Wangchuk to hospital on Saturday. Delhi authorities closed 16 metro stations in the central area from Wednesday a move the demonstrators attribute to efforts to limit attendance at the site. The CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke told supporters the peaceful protest would continue until Pradhan resigns so that the hunger strike and the assault on students would not be in vain.
