NEW DELHI: Indian education activist Sonam Wangchuk was forcibly removed from his protest site Saturday morning after a 20-day hunger strike, with police citing a court order and health concerns amid a planned march to parliament.
Wangchuk, 59, had been fasting on salt and water in the scorching summer heat, losing more than 9 kilograms (1.4 stone) and experiencing significant pain. He was demonstrating in support of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), an online satirical movement demanding educational reforms. The group had scheduled a march to India’s parliament for Monday.
Video from the protest site showed chaos erupting shortly before 7:30 a.m. local time when dozens of police and paramilitary personnel swarmed the stage where Wangchuk was lying down. Protesters attempting to intervene were pushed aside. Authorities covered the activist with bedsheets before removing him from the stage. An ambulance was seen speeding away minutes later.
Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali Angmo, posted on X that her husband had been admitted to Safdarjung Hospital. “Nothing should be administered to him orally or intravenously without taking consent from me, his family and his doctors who have been monitoring his health for the past 20 days,” she wrote.
I am at Safdarjung hospital in Delhi where @Wangchuk66 has been admitted. Nothing should be administered to him orally or intravenous without take consent from me, his family and his doctors who have been monitoring his health for the past 20 days.
— Gitanjali J Angmo (@GitanjaliAngmo) July 18, 2026
Dr. Charu Bamba, medical superintendent of Safdarjung Hospital, told news agency ANI that Wangchuk was “fully alert and stable,” adding that he was “somewhat weak due to prolonged fasting and is experiencing mild dehydration; otherwise, all his vital parameters are stable. He is being continuously examined and monitored, and his treatment is under way.”
Deputy Commissioner of Police Sachin Sharma told reporters that Wangchuk had been moved “in compliance with [a court] order, and based on health conditions and medical advice.” Sharma said the activist was taken to a government hospital “for much-needed medical intervention and is currently under medical supervision.”
The action followed a Delhi High Court order issued Thursday directing the federal government to monitor Wangchuk’s health regularly and provide necessary treatment if needed.
Despite his frail condition, Wangchuk had insisted on participating in Monday’s march to parliament and refused to end his strike despite growing calls to do so.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, who has now begun an indefinite fast in Wangchuk’s place, said the march would proceed as planned and called for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to resign. Dipke told the BBC he had gone to a friend’s house Saturday morning to freshen up when police arrived and prevented him from leaving.
