‘Wangchuk not alone’: at least 21 refuse to end fast
Protest at Jantar Mantar over Sonam Wangchuk’s fast, Delhi Police removal, and a dispute over medical care and police procedure
- Delhi Police said Sonam Wangchuk was shifted to a hospital because of deteriorating health and expert medical advice.
- Safdarjung Hospital said an independent AIIMS expert supported urgent treatment for dehydration risk during prolonged fasting.
- Sonam Wangchuk’s wife disputed the police account and asked the hospital not to give oral or intravenous treatment without her consent.
At Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, the hunger strike led by activist Sonam Wangchuk became a wider protest over the demand for Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation. The episode matters for UPSC because it combines public order management, right to protest, and medical ethics in a politically sensitive location near Parliament.
What happened
The protesters said Wangchuk’s removal did not weaken the agitation and that the protest would continue until the minister resigned. The protest was called by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and centred on the resignation demand against Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
UPSC can frame the issue as a governance and ethics problem: how authorities balance the right to peaceful protest with public order near Parliament, and how doctors and hospitals respond when a prolonged hunger strike creates life-threatening medical risk. The issue also connects to judicial oversight, police discretion, and informed consent in emergency treatment.
