Sonam Wangchuk's protest a hit. But has his cause flopped?
Twenty days, over nine kgs lost, muscle mass disappearing, and organ failure a possibility. Yet the loudest thing about activist Sonam Wangchuk's hunger strike seems
Twenty days, over nine kgs lost, muscle mass disappearing, and organ failure a possibility. Yet the loudest thing about activist Sonam Wangchuk's hunger strike seems to be the silence surrounding its cause - the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the spate of exam paper leaks. While Wangchuk's protest has captured national attention, drawing support from actors and the opposition, the cause behind it seems to have faded away. Read Full Story As Wangchuk's health deteriorates by the day, the Centre has held on to its stoic silence. Prime Minister Narendra Modi even seemed to pour cold water on demands for Pradhan's sacking with his effusive birthday wish for the minister a couple of weeks back. In fact, the narrative at the Jantar Mantar protest site itself has shifted - from calls for Pradhan to step down to wean Wangchuk off his fast, considering his health. The sit-in at Jantar Mantar, India's OG protest hub, was started by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a Gen Z-led satirical movement, on June 20. The 59-year-old Wangchuk joined the protest on June 28, kicking off his hunger strike. The CJP's frontline leaders, including founder Abhijit Dipke, did not join the fast. Wangchuk gave the CJP protest a face. Our reporter also went to the CJP protest site to closely observe Wangchuk's hunger strike. Read our ground report. SONAM WANGCHUK'S FAST ENTER DAY 20 Initially, Wangchuk's protest failed to gather steam.
Cockroach Party founder Abhijit Dipke's apolitical framing of their protest did not help matters. "We don't want existing parties to come. They are the ones who were in power when things did not improve. They are a reason why we are here," Dipke said in an interview. Even Wangchuk suggested that he joined the CJP protest as it had no political colour. "If I saw even a hint of politics in this, I wouldn't have come here," he said. However, the same utterly apolitical framing has come under strain over the past week. As the protest struggled to gather momentum, Dipke invited political leaders across the spectrum, including the BJP, to join the agitation. By then, Wangchuk's hunger strike crossed two weeks. He turned frail, his voice feeble. His blood sugar had been falling. The weather didn't help either, as temperatures hovered around 37 degrees. Videos of a weak Wangchuk struggling to stand up on his feet and wincing in pain went viral. The crowd began to thicken. Arvind Kejriwal interacts with Sonam Wangchuk during his hunger strike at Jantar Mantar (PTI) PROTEST GATHERS STEAM, CAUSE LOSES VOICE It was only then that actors, writers, academics and opposition leaders began to publicly engage with the protest. A petition was also filed in the Delhi High Court, urging immediate medical intervention and ending his fast by force-feeding him. The court has ordered the Centre to monitor his health daily.
The BriefWire