(Photo) Courtesy : The New Indian Express
New Delhi, 18 July—The opposition today slammed the BJP-led central government for the forceful removal of renowned climate activist Sonam Wangchuk from Jantar Mantar where he had been sitting on an indefinite hunger strike demanding Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation over alleged paper leaks and student suicides.
Meanwhile, Wangchuk, who had been sitting on an indefinite hunger strike for the last 20 days at Jantar Mantar has refused to take intravenous fluids, Safdarjung Hospital said on Saturday.
Earlier. Delhi Police personnel in plain clothes reached the protest site early morning and shifted Wangchuk to Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital in an attempt to end his strike.
While the police claimed that the action was carried out in compliance with the directions of the Delhi High Court and on the advice of medical experts, highly placed sources said that the action was taken at the instruction of the Union Home Ministry.
Attacking the Modi government, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the “removal” of activist Wangchuk from Jantar Mantar while he was on a non-violent hunger strike is “wrong” and alleged that the core tenets of the government are “Asatya and Hinsa (falsehood and violence)”.
The party criticised the police action at Jantar Mantar, following which Wangchuk was shifted, describing it as a “blot” on the country’s democracy and the Constitution.
In a post on X, Gandhi said the core tenets of the Narendra Modi government are “Asatya and Hinsa”.
“The removal of Sonam Wangchuk ji from Jantar Mantar while he was on a non-violent hunger strike is wrong,” he said.
Paper leaks, the rising cost of education, and student suicides are critical issues for India’s future, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said
No amount of force can deter India’s students, and those of us who love and believe in them, from raising these issues, he said.
Terming the Delhi Police action “another black stain on democracy and Constitution”, Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge said the government considers anyone who raises their voice against it as “anti-national and a parasite.”
“Whether it’s Prof. GD Agrawal, who sat on a fast unto death for 111 days to save Mother Ganga, or the Olympic wrestler from Haryana, whether it’s our 750 farmer protesters, Dalits and Adivasis, or the 25 children sacrificed to the paper leak and their families, this tyrannical government has spared no one…In their eyes, anyone who raises their voice is an “Anti-National,” a “parasite”! What happened at Jantar Mantar today is yet another black stain on democracy and the Constitution,” Kharge said on X.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, who had extended his support to Wangchuk’s protest, called his removal from the protest site “an utterly reprehensible development.”
“This incident, which occurred this morning, has already spread across the entire country and the whole world in a short span of time. The entire world and the nation are deeply concerned about Shri Sonam Wangchuk Ji, and there is also widespread outrage against the BJP government,” Yadav said.
The Samajwadi Party leader said that the BJP never believed in the ideology of the Mahatma Gandhi or his methods of non-violence.
Former Bengal CM and TMC chairperson Mamata Banerjee also criticised the police action.
In a democracy, Banerjee said, peaceful dissent deserves engagement, not silence.
“A government that treats dissent as a threat instead of a democratic obligation cannot demand trust while evading accountability”, she pointed out.
NCP-SP leader Rohit Pawar said that the government panicked after learning that Wangchuk is not straying from his goal and removed him from the protest site.
“What exact message does the central government intend to send through this? That we will crush the movement, but won’t accept the agitators’ demands—is that the message, right? Instead of resorting to such coercion, why doesn’t the government demand the resignation of the inactive Education Minister? This arrogance of the government is extremely dangerous from the perspective of democracy!” Pawar remarked.
Soon after the police action, CJP founder Abhijit Dipke alleged that the protesters were subjected to a police crackdown.
“I have been beaten up and put under detention by Delhi Police,” Dipke said in a post on X.
In a post on X, CJP shared a video of Wangchuk being removed from the protest site in a white sheet.
“A frail old man, after 20 days of a hunger strike, was picked up, wrapped in white sheets and taken away by Delhi Police. This is a national shame,” the CJP said.
Wangchuk and the three activists from AISA have been on an indefinite hunger strike since June 28 in support of the CJP-led protest over alleged irregularities in the NEET examination and the reported deaths of students linked to the controversy.
Their health had shown a steady decline over the past three weeks.
The CJP has been holding a protest for over 25 days demanding Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation over alleged irregularities in the NEET examination.
Veteran Journalist and Political Commentator
