Sonam Wangchuk ended his hunger strike on Friday, 26 days after he began it. Union Health Minister JP Nadda and Minister of State in the PMO Dr Jitendra Singh were present when he broke the fast. Both ministers had visited him at the hospital earlier this week, and their meeting appears to have set the stage for this moment.
Roots of the protest
The activist, known for his work on education reform and for inspiring the “3 Idiots” character Phunsukh Wangdu, had been fasting since late June. His protest was tied to anger over repeated NEET UG paper leaks and the demand for accountability, including calls for Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to step down. The movement, led by the Cockroach Janta Party, drew large crowds of students and young people across the country.
A moment of relief
By Friday, it seems those talks translated into enough of an assurance for Wangchuk to call off his fast. The visuals from the moment show the ministers standing close to him, visibly moved by the situation. Their expressions in the video reflect a mix of relief and quiet acknowledgment of how serious things had become.
The meeting between Wangchuk and the two ministers on Tuesday night lasted over an hour. According to sources, Nadda asked about his health and both ministers spoke about the government’s willingness to hold a Parliament debate on the protests. They also indicated that education reforms would be taken up in some form. In turn, they asked Wangchuk to urge students to trust the process and avoid taking matters into their own hands.
Wangchuk’s condition had worsened as the fast dragged on. He lost close to 11 kg and was moved from Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital to Medanta Hospital in Gurugram under a Delhi High Court order, arriving under tight security and going straight into the ICU. Doctors placed him under the care of internal medicine specialist Dr Sushila Kataria.
Conditions for ending the fast
Even as his health declined, Wangchuk refused to back down easily. He said in a video message that he was determined to continue unless the government gave a clear commitment protecting student protesters from any punitive action. In a letter to Nadda and Singh, he laid out his conditions plainly. He wanted assurance that no legal action would follow against students who joined the demonstrations, some compensation for families affected by the exam leak issue, and a discussion in Parliament involving Pradhan.
He also raised concerns about police conduct during the protests. His wife, Gitanjali Angmo, had earlier alleged that students were lathi-charged and tear-gassed during a march near Parliament, and Wangchuk extended his fast partly in solidarity with them. He asked repeatedly that there be no further use of force against the movement.