Activist Wangchuk offers to end hunger strike if protesting students are spared legal action
New Delhi : Environmental activist Sonam Wangchuk has said he will end his hunger strike if the BJP-led Indian government gives a clear assurance that no legal action will be taken against students protesting over the NEET paper leak and demanding accountability.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Wangchuk, who was forcibly shifted to a hospital by Delhi Police a few days ago while observing his hunger strike at Jantar Mantar, said he was prepared to call off his fast if the government guaranteed that no student protester would face reprisals.
He said the students were peacefully demanding a fair, transparent and accountable education system and should not be punished for exercising their democratic rights. Wangchuk revealed that 65 MPs (members of the Indian parliament) had appealed to him to end his hunger strike, but said he would not do so at the expense of the students’ interests.
Wangchuk has been on a hunger strike since June 28 in support of students protesting examination irregularities and seeking reforms in India’s education system. Police moved him to a hospital on Saturday, and on Tuesday he was transferred to a private hospital under a court order following a petition by his wife, Geetanjali, stating he had been illegally detained.
Meanwhile, a delegation of opposition MPs visited Wangchuk and his wife, Geetanjali, at the hospital. The delegation, which included Vivek Tankha, Sagarika Ghose, John Brittas and other lawmakers, expressed solidarity with the movement and assured Wangchuk that his message was resonating across the country and would continue to be raised in the Indian parliament.
It is worth mentioning that the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led student movement, which has millions of social media followers, emerged in May as a satirical response to Indian Chief Justice Surya Kant reportedly likening young people to “cockroaches” and “parasites” during a court hearing. It has since broadened its agenda to include unemployment, opportunities for young people and what it describes as Modi’s increasingly authoritarian style of governance.
