NEW DELHI (GNP): Indian authorities forcibly removed activist and educationist Sonam Wangchuk from his 20-day hunger strike in New Delhi on Saturday, triggering widespread condemnation from protesters, opposition leaders and civil society figures who called the action an assault on peaceful dissent.
Sonam Wangchuk, 59, had been fasting at Jantar Mantar since June 28. He was only consuming salt and water to demand the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over irregularities in India’s national medical entrance examinations. Reports show that activist Wangchuk lost 9 kg during the 21-day protest in Jantar Mantar.
There are several videos from the Jantar Mantar, which show that Wangchuk has been forcibly removed from the stage by the New Delhi police at 7:30 am. Protestors tried to intervene, but officers covered the Wangchuk with white bedsheets before carrying him away. Reports said, activist admitted in the Safdarjung Hospital.
Delhi Police said the move followed a Delhi High Court order issued Thursday directing the government to monitor Wangchuk’s health and provide necessary medical intervention. A police statement said protesters had attempted to obstruct the operation, resulting in “slight commotion,” and appealed to demonstrators to vacate the site peacefully.
Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali Angmo, said on social media that she was at the hospital and insisted that nothing be administered to her husband, whether orally or intravenously, without consent from his family and treating doctors. Hospital officials said Wangchuk remained alert and stable, though weak and mildly dehydrated from prolonged fasting.
Young Indians have emerged as a driving force behind the movement, expressing sharp anger over Saturday’s events and renewing calls for accountability from the government. The protest itself grew out of the Cockroach Janta Party, an online movement that began in May as satirical commentary on examination failures before rapidly gaining a large social media following.
Student groups had been camped alongside Wangchuk at Jantar Mantar for weeks before his removal, part of a wider youth backlash against repeated failures in India’s exam system. Opposition leaders have picked up on that anger too, calling openly for justice for the students affected.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke condemned Saturday’s action and said he would take up an indefinite fast in Wangchuk’s place. The march to parliament, he said, is still on for July 20, and the protesters’ list of demands now includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s resignation alongside Pradhan’s.
Opposition lawmakers have blasted the police operation as coercive overreach against a peaceful protest. Arvind Kejriwal, the former Delhi chief minister who visited Wangchuk earlier in the week, has pushed the government to sit down with protesters and repeated his demand that Pradhan step down.
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The CJP itself grew out of anger over the scrapped NEET-UG 2026 medical entrance exam, cancelled in May after a paper leak that forced roughly 2.2 million students into a re-sit under tight security last month. A separate marking error in high school results compounded public anger over the state of India’s examination system.
Pradhan has brushed off the CJP and its backers, and so far, the federal government hasn’t sat down with the protesters over their demands. Wangchuk himself is an engineer best known for his water conservation work in the Himalayas. He spent roughly six months in jail last year over unrest in Ladakh, charges he has denied.
After forcibly transferring Sonam Wangchuk to the Hospital by the Delhi police, Dipke, a founder of CJP and an organizer of this Jantar Mantar Protest, says, “The movement isn’t going anywhere, and the march on parliament is still set to go ahead.”
Managing Editor at Global News Pakistan (GNP), with a Bachelor's degree in International Relations from Riphah International University, graduated with a Gold Medal. Reach out at sabahtareengnp@gmail.com
