Indian activist Sonam Wangchuk has ended a 26-day hunger strike in support of youth-led protesters demanding education reforms, saying the decision followed prolonged negotiations and was intended to prevent possible violence.
In a post on X, Wangchuk, widely known as “Sonam Sir”, said he ended the fast “after a long negotiation on various conditions” and to avert “possible violence in the country”, reports BBC.
The 59-year-old activist began the hunger strike in support of the Cockroach Janta Party, whose members are also demanding the resignation of Indian Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Wangchuk had earlier said he had lost 11kg during the fast but was “still alive”. He was forcibly removed from a protest venue in Delhi last Saturday and taken to hospital.
He ended the hunger strike after the government assured him that no legal action would be taken against protesters demonstrating at Jantar Mantar.
India’s state and health ministers had visited Wangchuk in hospital.
Reacting to his decision, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said the movement was relieved that Wangchuk had ended the fast.
“We are relieved and grateful that Sonam Sir has ended his hunger strike after 26 days,” Dipke wrote on X.
However, he said the CJP’s peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar would continue until Pradhan resigned.
Mass protests have continued in the Indian capital following a police crackdown on Monday’s march to Parliament, which left scores of protesters and police officers injured.
The CJP has emerged as one of India’s most visible youth movements and is being viewed as one of the largest public displays of dissent against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, which has been in power since 2014.
