Bollywood actor Zeenat Aman has spoken up for activist Sonam Wangchuk. She shared her support on Instagram as his hunger strike stretched into its seventeenth day. Her post has pulled fresh attention to a protest that combines two separate causes, education reform and Ladakh’s rights.
What Zeenat Aman said
Aman wrote that her thoughts were with Wangchuk in Delhi. She referred to a report describing his declining health, saying he had started losing muscle mass and was in serious pain.
She also quoted his response to people who urged him to stop fasting. He said the request should go to the government instead. He asked why officials refuse even a basic conversation.
Aman called on the government to open dialogue. She said India has a strong tradition of peaceful protest, and that those in power owe such protest a peaceful response.
Why this strike started
Wangchuk began an indefinite fast on June 28 at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. He joined a sit-in already running for over a week, led by a youth group called the Cockroach Janta Party.
The protest grew out of anger over the NEET-UG paper leak. NEET is the single entrance exam that decides admission into medical and dental colleges across India. This year’s exam was hit by leak allegations serious enough that authorities had to cancel and rerun parts of it. Students who had spent years preparing found their results in doubt, and public trust in the exam system took a hit.
The protesting students want accountability at the top. Their central demand is the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. They argue that a minister overseeing repeated exam failures, including JEE alongside NEET, cannot simply move on without answering for it.
Wangchuk backed this demand when he joined the fast. He has said the exam system needs a full overhaul, not just patchwork fixes, and that lawmakers should use the upcoming Parliament session to address it directly.
Where Ladakh fits in
Wangchuk did not leave his older cause behind. Alongside the NEET demand, he continues to press for statehood for Ladakh and its inclusion under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. This provision would give the region stronger control over land, culture, and local resources.
He has said the two issues are connected in his mind. Poor treatment of students and poor treatment of Ladakh’s environment and culture come, in his view, from the same pattern of government neglect.
His condition now
Reports on his health have grown more worrying with each passing day. Doctors monitoring him have flagged low blood pressure and extreme weakness. Supporters are now planning a march to Parliament on July 20 to keep pressure on the government.