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Hundreds of citizens, mainly students, came together in Hyderabad and Bengaluru to express solidarity with climate and education activist Sonam Wangchuk on Sunday, July 19.
Protesters gathered at the designated protest sites of Dharna Chowk in Hyderabad and Freedom Park in Bengaluru, in support of the protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan following the NEET paper leak.
The call for the Hyderabad protest was given by a group of students who said they were “demanding accountability in the wake of the NEET paper leak, calling for structural reforms to the National Testing Agency (NTS), seeking the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, and expressing solidarity with Sonam Wangchuk and the larger call for transparency and justice.”
Actor Kishore joined the protests in Bengaluru and expressed solidarity with the protesters. He also urged people to exercise their franchise carefully.
“Democracy doesn’t die because of dictators but because of unresponsive citizens… Government’s arrogance comes because we vote blindly,” he said, addressing the gathering.
Police had forcefully removed Sonam Wangchuk from the Jantar Mantar protest site on July 18 and shifted him to a government hospital. It was the 21st day of Wangchuk’s indefinite hunger strike, as part of the CJP’s protest seeking education reforms and accountability for the NEET paper leak.
Police said the decision was based on medical advice and a Delhi High Court order directing that Wangchuk’s health be monitored daily and necessary medical intervention be provided if required.
His wife, Gitanjali J Angmo, however, moved the Delhi High Court seeking an urgent hearing to move him from the Safdarjung Government Hospital where he was taken by the police. She said that the hospital refused to discharge him or allow the family to shift him to a private hospital of their choice, calling it “illegal detention”.
After Wangchuk was removed from the protest site, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke began an indefinite hunger strike.
Along with Wangchuk, three PhD scholars and activists of the All India Students’ Association (AISA) – Neha, Ameen Amitoj, and Manish Kumar – have also been on hunger strike for 21 days.
CJP has given a call for a march to the Parliament on July 20.
Wangchuk put out a statement on July 19 calling the Parliament march “India’s second freedom movement,” urging people to make it a big success.
