Climate activist, educationist Sonam Wangchuk on Friday slammed critics who questioned why her 27-day hunger strike was broken by Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan without resigning. He also described the horrific experience of being imprisoned in a North Korean-style hospital.
In a video posted on YouTube, Wangchuk said he was hurt and angry when some people asked him why he broke his hunger strike in front of two Union ministers instead of students and leaders of the Telokapa Janata Party. He said that people who are asking questions do not know at all how he was kept under strict guard at Safdarjung Hospital. The government kept a close eye on him and only three relatives were allowed to visit him. He said that he was able to contact the hospital with great difficulty.
He alleged that despite the Delhi High Court order, officials did not allow him to be sent to Medanta Hospital for almost five hours on the pretext of not receiving the order. He released a video in which he is seen arguing with the police after he was not allowed to leave the hospital despite a High Court order. He even protested by lying on the hospital corridor floor and asking the police to arrest him.
He also explained why the hunger strike ended without any promise of the education minister’s resignation. Wangchuk said the government agreed to his two demands. They want to provide compensation to the families of the suicide victims and discuss the matter in detail in Parliament. However, the government was not ready to give a written promise not to take any legal action against the agitators.
He said he did not want the students and leaders to get into legal trouble. The government has faced a lot of anger across the country for not resigning the education minister and the minister should resign at least belatedly. He knew that breaking his fast would not end the protest. So he focused more on protecting the students from legal action than resigning the minister. He also cited the risk of violence as another reason for breaking the fast. He also rejected allegations by some politicians that he is in cahoots with the BJP.
Wangchuk started an indefinite hunger strike at Jantar Mantar in support of Kakroach Janata Party’s protest against Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over question paper leak. On the eleventh day he was forcibly taken to the hospital. The protests intensified and on 20 July a large crowd gathered at Jantar Mantar for a procession to Parliament. After the brutal police attack on the students, protests spread across the country. The government is currently in talks with the protesters but they have made it clear that the protests will continue until the minister resigns.