Widespread Condemnation for Wangchuk’s Forcible Removal Instead of Opening Dialogue with Agitators

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, July 18: Forcible shifting of the climate activist and educator Sonam Wangchuk from his hunger strike site at Jantar Mantar to the Safdarjung hospital instead of the government opening dialogue with the agitating students to end the agitation has received widespread condemnation from the opposition parties and civil society leaders.

The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi finally broke his silence Wangchuk’s agitation hitting out at the Narendra Modi government over the climate activist’s removal from Jantar Mantar, where he had been on an indefinite hunger strike.

Rahul Gandhi accused the Centre of suppressing the voices of people who are raising issues affecting students across the country. In a post on X, Gandhi said Wangchuk’s removal while he was on a non-violent hunger strike was “wrong” and that hinsa (violence) and asatya (lies) are the Modi government’s principals.

“The core tenets of the Modi government are Asatya and Hinsa…. Paper leaks, the rising cost of education, and student suicides are critical issues for India’s future,” Gandhi wrote in the post. “No amount of force can deter India’s students, and those of us who love and believe in them, from raising these issues,” he added.

Wangchuk has been fasting since June 28 in support of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led protest over alleged irregularities in the NEET examination and the reported deaths of students linked to the controversy.

The activist was shifted to Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital early on Saturday after Delhi Police, citing expert medical advice and directions from the Delhi High Court, moved him from the protest site. Protest organisers have maintained that their planned march to Parliament on July 20 will go ahead as scheduled.

Gandhi also linked Wangchuk’s protest to broader concerns over the education system, saying paper leaks, the rising cost of education and student suicides were among the most pressing issues facing India’s future.

In a post on X, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge condemned the forced removal of Sonam Wangchuk as a “black stain on democracy and the Constitution.” Recalling previous protests, Mr Kharge said “ Whether it’s Prof GD Agrawal, who sat on a fast unto death for 111 days to save Mother Ganga, or the Olympic wrestler from Haryana, whether it’s our 750 farmer providers, Dalits and Adivasis, or the 25 children sacrificed to the paper leak and their families, this tyrannical government has spared no one… In their eyes, anyone who raises their voice is an “Anti-National,” a “parasite”!”

The NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar on Saturday slammed the Centre for its “irresponsible” handling of activist Sonam Wangchuk’s agitation, claiming the government remained a bystander rather than addressing the genuine demands of students.

Speaking to reporters in Baramati, Pawar asserted that while the government moved to hospitalise Mr Wangchuk as the situation became “uncontrollable,” the protest would continue regardless of the action against the activist.

“The Centre didn’t handle the situation carefully, and it impacted the future of several students. The government remained a bystander as other political parties came to support him (Wangchuk). Leaders from Congress, NCP (SP), including Supriya Sule and many others, paid a visit there (Jantar Mantar) and raised a common demand,” Mr Pawar said.

The CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat who visited the Jantar Mantar protest site, said “What happened this morning with Sonam Wangchuk was an act of bulldozing democratic and constitutional values. This is done directly under the direction of Home Minister Amit Shah,” she said.

The former Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said, “The detention of Sonam Wangchuk, Abhijeet Dipke and others is an attack on the constitutional right to dissent. They must be released immediately and unconditionally,” former Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan said in a post on X.

Following Sonam Wangchuk’s removal from the protest site, student activists held a protest in Mumbai.

Haryana Congress president Rao Narendra Singh condemned the “forcible removal” of Ladakh-based social activist Sonam Wangchuk calling it a direct attack on democracy and the Constitution. In a statement, Mr Rao said every citizen has the constitutional right to express their views peacefully and that suppressing a peaceful protest by force was against democratic values.

“Repeated paper leaks and the absence of strict action against those responsible had undermined the confidence of students who spend years preparing for competitive examinations,” Mr Rao added.

Activist and politician Yogendra Yadav addressing the protesters at Jantar Mantar, said: “Whatever happened in morning at this site, reflects the success of the protest.” He added that “The government thought public won’t gather because mainstream media was not showing the protest. But with power of social media, the latest video of Sonam Wangchuk reached 144 millions, where he has said he is fine calling on people to join the march on July 20.”

“What happened at the stage this morning is one of the shameful acts in the history of India. They used white chaddar to hide the shameful act of forcibly taking Sonam Wangchuk who is the pride of this nation,” he added. “I salute all the protesters here, especially AISA members on indefinite hunger strike. I salute Sonam Wangchuk.”

Congress leader Sachin Pilot accused the Central government of avoiding dialogue and suppressing dissent after being on the back foot over rising public anger on issues related to the education system. Talking to reporters during a visit to his constituency Tonk, he said it was surprising that the government was not willing to talk to activist Sonam Wangchuk, who had been on a hunger strike at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar since June 28, nor accept his demands.

“The government is not ready to talk to Sonam Wangchuk ji nor accept his demands. When pressure is building from across the country on the issues for which he was on a hunger strike, the government appears rattled,” Mr Pilot told reporters. Instead of engaging in dialogue, he said, the government forcibly removed a person who was on a peaceful hunger strike.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal appealed to citizens to join the ongoing protest at Jantar Mantar after activist Sonam Wangchuk was shifted to hospital by Delhi Police, urging them to stand with those fasting for reforms in the examination system. In a video message posted on X, Mr Kejriwal said Mr Wangchuk and Mr Dipke were not on hunger strike for themselves but for students across the country.

Political and civil society leaders in Himachal Pradesh condemned the government’s interruption of Wangchuk’s hunger strike by shifting him to a hospital, terming the move “insensitive.” They said the activist’s fast should have ended with a dialogue with the government but instead, he was shifted to a hospital without a solution being offered.

Mr Wangchuk’s supporters, consisting of hundreds of youths, women, retired government officials and civil society members, had observed a one-day symbolic fast in Himachal Pradesh’s Solan on Friday following a call given by city-based organisation Jagruk Yuva Sangathan.

The protesters, who had earlier decided to hold a massive demonstration in Solan on July 20, the day of the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) scheduled march to Parliament, said they would meet to decide their future course of action on Monday.

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and its protesters alleged on Saturday that there had been a police crackdown on them. They stated that they had not been informed of the whereabouts of activist Sonam Wangchuk, who was forcibly removed by the Delhi Police from the Jantar Mantar protest site.

Former West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee expressed concern over Sonam Wangchuk’s health and well-being, saying “He asked only for dialogue, yet his appeal has been met with silence for weeks. In a democracy, peaceful dissent deserves engagement, not silence.” “He should be allowed to be shifted to a private hospital, with citizens free to bear the cost if needed. Public trust is earned through transparency, accountability, and respect for democratic rights – not by suppressing peaceful protests or refusing dialogue,” she added.

Two youths have been apprehended by the Assam police in Guwahati for “damaging” a public wall by painting a picture of activist Sonam Wangchuk, a police official said on Saturday. Another picture of Wangchuk was drawn on a pillar of the Basistha flyover in the city two days ago, and police are trying to identify those responsible for it, he said.

“Last night, our patrol party found two youths trying to damage a public wall on the road leading to the Jyoti-Bishnu International Auditorium. They had smeared colours on the wall and admitted that they were painting a picture of Sonam Wangchuk, which was partially completed,” the official said. The duo were apprehended and brought to Dispur police station, where a case has been registered. “They will be allowed to go after a notice is served,” the official said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray criticised the removal of activist Sonam Wangchuk from his protest site in Delhi, saying that the world was watching democracy being broken by force in the country, where even peaceful protests are no longer tolerated.

Reacting to Delhi police’s forced removal of activist Sonam Wangchuk from the Jantar Mantar protest site, Congress’ Pawan Khera said, “Today’s actions lay bare this government’s mindset: peaceful protest is not a fundamental democratic right to be protected, but a law-and-order problem to be crushed.”

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav condemned the forced removal of Wangchuk and said, “This undesirable action by the repressive BJP government has severely tarnished and fragmented our country’s humanitarian and democratic image on an international level … The BJP’s mindset is divisive; that is why wherever there is unity, harmony, and solidarity, the BJP, out of fear, reacts as a reactionary and disperses the movements. But the BJP has forgotten that today’s new generation is capable of bringing about an ideological revolution through ‘Digital Unity.’ It has happened, it is happening, and it will happen again…” he said in a post on X.

Activists from the U.S.-based advocacy groups gathered to express solidarity with Sonam Wangchuk, who has been on a hunger strike in New Delhi over alleged irregularities in the examination system, including the NEET. Activists from the Hindus for Human Rights and the Azadi Project gathered at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi near the Indian Embassy in Washington on Friday evening with placards carrying slogans in support of Mr Wangchuk. The activists also raised slogans against the Indian government and demanded the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Three students from the CPI(ML) Liberation’s All India Students’ Association (AISA) – Neha, Aameen and Manish – remain at Jantar Mantar and will continue their fast for the 21st day, N. Sai Balaji, former AISA president said on Saturday.

Security was stepped up in and around Jantar Mantar, across parts of the New Delhi district and at Safdarjung Hospital, where activist Sonam Wangchuk was shifted on Saturday after his health deteriorated during his 20-day hunger strike, officials said.

There was a brief commotion during the early morning action at the Jantar Mantar protest site, with police claiming that some protesters attempted to obstruct the exercise. Heavy deployment of police personnel and paramilitary forces was made at the protest site in the heart of Delhi and nearby areas to maintain law and order and prevent any untoward incident, they said. Barricades were erected and security personnel positioned at key points to regulate the movement of protesters and visitors.