Police hospitalise Sonam Wangchuk after 20-day fast
The activist’s removal from a New Delhi protest site escalates a youth-led campaign over alleged corruption in India’s exam system.
By Daniel Okafor · Business Editor
3 min read
Indian police took activist Sonam Wangchuk to hospital on Saturday after a 20-day hunger strike, saying doctors had warned that his condition was worsening. The move raised tensions around a youth-led protest movement demanding accountability for alleged corruption and mismanagement in India’s national examination system.
New Delhi police said Wangchuk, 59, was moved from the Jantar Mantar protest site to receive “essential medical care” under High Court orders and after medical advice, according to Al Jazeera, AFP and AP. Police said protesters tried to block officers during the transfer, causing what the force described as a slight commotion.
Wangchuk, an engineer known for water conservation work in the Himalayas, began fasting on June 28. Hundreds of students and activists have since gathered at Jantar Mantar, a central Delhi site known for its 18th-century astronomical structures, Al Jazeera reported.
The protest is linked to the Cockroach Janta Party, or CJP, a Gen Z-led satirical movement that emerged in May after a Supreme Court chief justice compared some unemployed young people to “cockroaches,” according to Al Jazeera. The term was adopted by young Indians critical of government education and employment policies, and the campaign drew more than 21 million Instagram followers within days, Al Jazeera reported.
The movement is calling for Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resign. It is also demanding changes to the examination system and compensation for families of students who have died by suicide, according to Al Jazeera.
Public anger over exams has grown after about 2.2 million aspiring doctors were required to retake India’s medical entrance exam last month under heavy security, Al Jazeera reported. The original May test was cancelled after questions were leaked, and the government temporarily banned Telegram in an effort to prevent further leaks, according to the report.
Students who had spent months preparing were outraged when the first test was voided, Al Jazeera reported. More than a dozen students were reported to have died by suicide amid the crisis, according to the news outlet.
Hours before police removed him, Wangchuk wrote on X: “Smaller Movements have brought down many governments in India… & Here it is about education.”
The CJP said on social media that the government had “forcefully abducted” Wangchuk without his consent or his family’s consent, according to Al Jazeera. CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said at the protest site that the government had made a “grave mistake” and said he would begin an indefinite hunger strike.
Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali J Angmo, said on X that she was with him at Safdarjung Hospital and that he would continue fasting, Al Jazeera reported. Speaking to reporters, she said nothing should be given to him orally or intravenously without consent from her, his family and the doctors who had monitored him during the fast.
Angmo said she was grateful the government had brought him to hospital but opposed enforced medical treatment. She said Wangchuk was weak and losing muscle mass, which she described as expected during a fast, while adding that he was alert.
Authorities deployed more police and paramilitary personnel and put up barricades around the protest site and hospital, according to Al Jazeera. Police said the security measures were precautionary and asked protesters to cooperate.
More demonstrations are planned at Jantar Mantar as India’s parliament begins its session on Monday, Al Jazeera reported.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.