Wangchuk pressed to end fast as exam leak protest enters 17th day
Opposition leaders urged Sonam Wangchuk to stop his hunger strike in New Delhi as activists demand India’s education minister resign over exam paper leaks.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
3 min read
Indian activist Sonam Wangchuk has entered the 17th day of a hunger strike in New Delhi, where protesters are demanding Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resign over examination paper leaks. Reuters reported that his worsening condition has led opposition figures to press him to end the fast.
Wangchuk, 59, began fasting on June 28 at Jantar Mantar, a protest site near India’s parliament. He is backing the Cockroach Janta Party, or CJP, a Gen Z-led political group staging a sit-in over leaks in May that affected millions of students.
The campaign centers on the cancellation of a medical college entrance examination taken by 2.3 million candidates after question papers leaked, according to Reuters. The exam was held again last month.
Reuters reported from the site on Tuesday that Wangchuk was lying on a white mattress on a stage and said he was too weak to speak. He had earlier said his fast could continue for six weeks unless he died before then.
CJP said in a post on X that Wangchuk had lost 8.5kg, or 19 pounds, by Tuesday and that his health was worsening. The post showed him surrounded by medical workers, Reuters reported.
Abhijeet Dipke, the 30-year-old founder of CJP, said the group had tried to persuade Wangchuk to stop fasting but that he wanted the protest to continue. Dipke said Wangchuk was urging supporters to prepare for a march to parliament planned for July 20.
Dipke also accused the government of being willing to let Wangchuk and others on hunger strike die, Reuters reported. Pradhan, the Education Ministry and the government’s chief spokesperson did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
One young person who was also taking part in the hunger strike fainted at the protest site on Monday and was taken to hospital, according to Reuters.
Several senior opposition leaders appealed to Wangchuk to end the fast. Akhilesh Yadav, a former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, wrote on X that Wangchuk’s life was valuable because of his work for humanity, the environment and democracy.
Wangchuk is an engineer and activist whose work inspired a character in the Bollywood film 3 Idiots, Reuters reported. His participation has brought wider attention to a protest movement driven largely by young Indians.
CJP describes itself as a voice for “the lazy, the unemployed, and the chronically correct.” Reuters reported that the party quickly built a large following on Instagram after it was founded in May, reaching 22 million followers within days.
The movement has drawn support amid concern about jobs and anger over exam integrity. Government data cited by Reuters showed India’s unemployment rate in 2025 was 3.1 percent for people aged 15 and above, while it was nearly 10 percent among people aged 15 to 29 and 13.6 percent for young people in urban areas.
Reuters described the Jantar Mantar sit-in as an uncommon act of public defiance during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 12 years in power. The protest continued Tuesday as Wangchuk’s supporters weighed calls to protect his health against his demand for Pradhan’s resignation.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.