Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk on Sunday began an indefinite fast at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, lending fresh momentum to the Cockroach Janata Party’s (CJP) protest seeking the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged irregularities in examinations.
The protest, which has been continuing since June 20, entered a new phase as hundreds of students and young people gathered at the site alongside farmer leaders and members of various khap organisations. Before beginning the fast, Wangchuk and CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke visited Rajghat with other members of the organisation and paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi. The gathering at Jantar Mantar opened with a two-minute silence.
Explaining his decision, Wangchuk said he had been left with no alternative. “I have been compelled by the government to undertake this hunger strike as none of our demands have been fulfilled. I believe it is better to sacrifice myself for a good cause, and therefore I have decided to continue this hunger strike for an indefinite period.”
He also said the agitation was not limited to one issue. “I have been forced to sit here. I am not doing this happily. I am sitting on a fast in support of both issues. Many people ask me, you were leading a movement in Ladakh, why are you with the CJP now. Education, which is the issue here, has been close to my heart for the last 40 years, since I was a student.”
“When there is no accountability, we are forced to take the only way possible in a democracy, peaceful protest, and we will do that,” he added.
Dipke, in response to a question from The Tribune, clarified that no CJP member would be joining Wangchuk. Earlier, citing migraine-related health concerns, he had said he would not go on a hunger strike.
On the contrary, members of the All-India Students’ Association (AISA) announced that they would sit on an indefinite hunger strike in solidarity with Wangchuk. AISA national president Neha, a research scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru University, is on an indefinite fast in support of Wangchuk. When approached for comment, she wrote that she had decided not to speak for the day in order to conserve energy.
Dipke, meanwhile, alleged that around 500 farmers had been prevented from reaching the protest venue. “We have information that around 500 farmers have been put under house arrest because they were willing to join us,” he said.
The protest also witnessed growing participation from farmer groups and Khap Panchayat representatives. Sarv Khaap convener Om Prakash Dhankhar, while presenting a turban to Dipke, said, “We are not just giving this turban to Dipke, but this is a step to pass on the baton to the younger generation.”
Later, Dhankhar warned of a larger farmer mobilisation from Monday, saying he remained in constant touch with farmer leaders, including Rakesh Tikait.
Addressing the gathering, Khap leader Atar Singh Kadyan questioned the heavy police deployment at the venue and criticised the government’s handling of peaceful public protests. “Can you stop without winning this battle?” he asked the crowd.
The agitation also received its first visible political backing from the Opposition. National spokesperson of the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) Anish Gawande joined the protest in solidarity with Wangchuk and the CJP.
“Apart from being a national spokesperson of my party, I am also a youth. This is my ideology, whether the party believes in it or not,” he said.
Gawande said, “Pradhan has to resign, otherwise there will be protests everywhere, every day.” He also claimed that several Opposition parties, including the Trinamool Congress, DMK and the NCP (SP), had extended support to the movement.
Dipke maintained that the immediate objective remained unchanged. Alleging that the government had ignored concerns over examination irregularities, he said, “First let Pradhan’s resignation come, then we will present our next set of demands.” Calling the movement his “Swadesh moment”, Dipke said, “The only message I want to give to the youth of this country is that it is time to come out and join us.”
The Tribune, now published from Chandigarh, started publication on February 2, 1881, in Lahore (now in Pakistan). It was started by Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, a public-spirited philanthropist, and is run by a trust comprising five eminent persons as trustees.
The Tribune, the largest selling English daily in North India, publishes news and views without any bias or prejudice of any kind. Restraint and moderation, rather than agitational language and partisanship, are the hallmarks of the newspaper. It is an independent newspaper in the real sense of the term.
The Tribune has two sister publications, Punjabi Tribune (in Punjabi) and Dainik Tribune (in Hindi).
Remembering Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia
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