Activist Sonam Wangchuk, who has been on a hunger strike since June 28, was taken away from the protest site at Jantar Mantar on Saturday morning, with the Delhi Police saying he had been shifted to hospital for “essential medical care” purportedly in compliance with a High Court order.
The activist has been admitted to the Safdarjung Hospital, Wangchuk’s wife Gitanjali Angmo said in a social media post.
Wangchuk’s fast, which is part of a protest led by the Cockroach Janta Party demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the alleged mismanagement of competitive examinations, entered its 21st day on Saturday.
Here are more updates from the protest:
- Three members of the All India Students’ Association – Neha Bora, Manish Kumar and Aameen Amitosh – continued their hunger strike after Wangchuk was taken away from the protest site. Protesters formed a human chain to prevent the police from forcibly removing them.
- Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, who had been allegedly stopped by the police from returning to the protest site, reached Jantar Mantar on Saturday morning and announced that he would begin an indefinite hunger strike. He also called for nationwide peaceful protests. “We need to send a message that the people won’t accept this kind of dictatorship,” he said in a video shared by the political campaign.
- Later in the day, an unidentified woman threw ink at Dipke while he was at the protest site, PTI reported.
VIDEO | Delhi: A woman throws ink at Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke at Jantar Mantar leading to chaos at the protest site. More details are awaited.#JantarMantar #Delhi #CJP
(Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/n147TvrpG7) pic.twitter.com/VF5sG18fC2
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) July 18, 2026 Dipke said that Wangchuk’s removal from the protest site would not end the campaign and reiterated the protester’s plan to march to Parliament on July 20. “Until now, we were demanding Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation,” ANI quoted him as saying. “But after this despicable act, we will now demand the resignation of [Prime Minister] Narendra Modi.”
- Safdarjung Hospital said on Saturday that Wangchuk was weak due to prolonged fasting and dehydration, The Hindu reported. “Although he is currently stable, he requires continuous observation, monitoring and treatment to restore his body parameters,” the hospital was quoted as saying. Angmo said in a social media post that no treatment should be administered to Wangchuk without the consent of “his family and his doctors who have been monitoring his health for the past 20 days”.
- The Cockroach Janta Party has alleged that the Safdarjung Hospital administration and the Delhi Police were not sharing Wangchuk’s medical reports or allowing phones inside the hospital room where he was being treated. The party also claimed that his lawyer and personal doctors had not been allowed to meet him.
"March for the 20th to the Parliament is on," says Cockroach Janta Party after Sonam Wangchuk was removed from the protest site and taken to the hospital.
They urge people from across India to continue their support for the movement.@AnantGuptaAG reports from Jantar Mantar. pic.twitter.com/JSUGfyNJi2
— Scroll.in (@scroll_in) July 18, 2026
- Earlier in the day, the Cockroach Janta Party claimed that Wangchuk had been “detained” and said it did not know where the activist had been taken. Cockroach Janta Party Spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka said in a social media post that roads leading to Jantar Mantar had been blocked and alleged that Dipke and other protesters were beaten up. Dipke had also claimed in a social media post that he had been beaten up and detained by the Delhi Police.
AISA activists Neha, Aameen, Manish and Hamad are continuing their hunger strike on 21st day at Jantar Mantar declares Ashutosh Ranka, CJP spokesperson.
Credit: CPI(ML) Liberation pic.twitter.com/UvNm0RJinR
— Scroll.in (@scroll_in) July 18, 2026
- The Delhi Police, however, said Wangchuk was shifted to hospital on expert medical advice because of his deteriorating health condition. Protesters tried to obstruct the police’s action while it was complying with the High Court’s directions, leading to a “slight commotion”, it added. The police claimed that personnel exercised “maximum restrain and undertook the exercise safely.”
- On Thursday, the Delhi High Court directed the Centre and the Delhi government to monitor Wangchuk’s health daily and undertake any medical intervention required to improve his condition.
- However, on Saturday afternoon, the police claimed that the doctors had arrived at Jantar Mantar in the morning for a routine medical examination, as directed by the court when some protesters obstructed the process. It added Wangchuk was taken to Safdarjung Hospital on medical advice given his “delicate health condition”, for examination and any further intervention required.
"This did not happen randomly, it was well planned to disrupt the movement," says an UPSC aspirant at the CJP protest in Jantar Mantar.
He said police had entered the premises in plain clothes to take #SonamWangchuk to the hospital, while the RAF cordoned off the stage. pic.twitter.com/EKAgdJryuJ
— Scroll.in (@scroll_in) July 18, 2026 Authorities cover the stage with plain cloths as they to take #SonamWangchuk, who has been on hunger strike, to the hospital during CJP protest demanding Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation, at #JantarMantar in New Delhi.
📷Bhawika Chhabra/ Reuters pic.twitter.com/8XnqTlSoXH
— Scroll.in (@scroll_in) July 18, 2026
- Delhi police has deployed several personnel at the Safdarjung Hospital and Jantar Mantar.
Edited by Tanya Shrivastava.
Also read: What Irom Sharmila, who fasted for 16 years, thinks about Sonam Wangchuck’s hunger strike
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