New Delhi: Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk on Sunday began a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar, joining the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) protest demanding accountability over alleged irregularities in examinations and seeking the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Before sitting on the fast, Wangchuk, along with CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, visited Rajghat and paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi. The protest began with the gathering observing a two-minute silence.
Hundreds of protesters, mostly youth and students, gathered at Jantar Mantar as Wangchuk started his hunger strike. Several farmer leaders were also present at the protest site.
Explaining his decision to join the protest, Wangchuk said education had been close to his heart for the last 40 years and that he could not remain silent when young people raised concerns over the education system.
“I have been forced to sit here, I am not doing this happily. I am sitting on a fast in support of both issues. Many people ask me, you were doing a movement in Ladakh, why are you with CJP now. Education, which is the issue here, has been close to my heart for the last 40 years, since I was a student,” he said.
“I did engineering, but never took a job because I felt the key to all generations is in education. When some youth raise their voices on issues with the education system, how could I have remained silent? It was natural for me to support them,” Wangchuk added.
He said the focus should be on using education to “build children’s lives and give direction to the nation”.
Referring to his work in Ladakh, Wangchuk said protecting the Himalayas was everyone’s responsibility as billions of people depend on water originating in the region.
“I wish the government had shown sensitivity, we would not have had to go through this and sit here in such heat,” he said.
Wangchuk said that in the absence of accountability, peaceful protest was the only option available in a democracy.
“When there is no accountability, we are forced to take the only way possible in a democracy — peaceful protest, and we will do that,” he said.
He also praised the protesters, saying that many youths were observing hunger strikes despite the heat, and appealed to people to make it a community hunger strike and observe at least a day-long fast.
Wangchuk was released from Jodhpur prison in March 2026, after spending nearly six months in detention under the National Security Act for his involvement in the Ladakh statehood protest that had turned violent.
Earlier, Dipke had appealed to farmers, students and organisations to join the protest and support the call for accountability.
On Sunday morning, he said on X that several farmers’ leaders from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab were being placed under house arrest to prevent them from reaching Jantar Mantar.
The protest also turned into a platform for other grievances involving students and educational institutions, with the family of Amaira, a Class 6 student who died last year after falling from the fourth floor of Neerja Modi School in Jaipur in an alleged suicide case, joining the agitation seeking justice for their daughter.
Amaira’s parents alleged that no action had been taken against the school or teacher and that police had not filed a chargesheet so far.
“We send our children to school with some trust. It was not negligence, it was murder by the school. She was very kind and spread goodness in the world. Today would have been her 10th birthday,” her mother said.
Dipke said the incident needed to remain in public memory, alleging that the police and school had tried to suppress the matter when it happened.
He said the issue was not limited to a single case and alleged that there were several such incidents involving students.
Representatives of the Sarv Khap Panchayat also joined the protest. Khap representatives tied a pagdi on Dipke, with coordinator Omprakash Dhankar saying the gesture represented a responsibility being handed over to him.
“This pagdi is a responsibility. With this, we are handing over the responsibility to him,” Dhankar said.
The khap representatives alleged that around 500 farmer leaders and members of organisations had been stopped from coming to Delhi. Dipke had earlier made a similar allegation.
Farmer leader Akshay Kumar from Odisha, the home state of Pradhan, said the minister would face political consequences if he did not resign.
“If Pradhan does not resign, he will be defeated in the next polls,” he said.
Pradhan is a Lok Sabha MP from the Sambalpur constituency in Odisha.
Farmer leader Attar Singh Kadian criticised the BJP, saying that it was not capable of running the government and should step down.
Dhankar also accused the BJP of coming to power based on promises that were not fulfilled.
The CJP protest began at Jantar Mantar on June 20 amid allegations of irregularities in the examination system, including NEET. The movement has been demanding accountability and action from the government.
