Tour de Force: Sonam Wangchuk is still alive, albeit 24 pounds lighter, after 26 days of a hunger strike demanding educationminister Dharmendra Pradhan step down. He’s the man who turns up at every protest in the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), shouting for a fair exam system and a quicker path to jobs for India’s youth.
At 5:00 a.m. on the morning of the 26‑day fast, a city‑wide protest called a 24‑hour stand‑in at Delhi’s iconic Jantar Mantar. The schoolchildren, the college go‑ors and the street‑political activists were steadied by a huge crowd, but police were there with batons and tear gas, looper‑card speed‑kicks to the line of protesters.
Before being extracted from the protest, the teenager endured 21 days in the sultry Delhi heat, drinking only salt and water. A hospital in Medanta said the activist was admitted to ICU, yet he held his brave fast against many pleas from opposition MPs, entertainment figures and the health minister, JP Nadda.
News that the government would corrupt students, the CJP states, is one of the main reasons why the march remained righteous. The bold youth protest shows that the CJP has transformed from a satirical joke into a real power. A large crowd defiant to their rights in Delhi and a grappling BJP vs. opposition BJP moment was sealed after Indian prime minister Narendra Modi came to the rescue of the students reading a note that says “Nothing is more important than the welfare and future of our youth.”
