Ground Report: Why Wangchuk's fellow organisers can't convince him to stop
Abhijit Dibke tells The Federal that he's pleaded with Wangchuk for days to end the fast — but the activist insists the real issue is the government's continued silence, not his health.
Activist Sonam Wangchuk's health condition has entered a critical stage due to his prolonged fast even as appeals came in from several quarters to call off his hunger strike.
Wangchuk, however, remained resolute, saying calling off his fast without any response from the government would send a wrong message. Instead, he urged people to strengthen the Cockroach Janta Party's (CJP) proposed Parliament march on July 20.
Reporting from the protest site for AI with Sanket, journalist Sanket Upadhyay found Sonam Wangchuk visibly weak on the 19th day of his hunger strike, under constant medical watch. Doctors are keeping a close eye on his vitals — organisers say the readings remain stable, but muscle loss is now a growing concern.
Asked whether he'd consider calling off the fast, Wangchuk gave a short reply: "After the 20th."
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It's a line that's since taken on outsized weight at the protest site, with many reading it as a signal that the outcome of Monday's planned march to Parliament could decide what happens to the hunger strike itself.
What Abhijit Dibke told The Federal
"I've been asking him for days": Abhijit Dibke, one of the leaders of the Cockroach Janata Party, didn't hide his worry when Sanket put the question to him.
"Personally I am very much concerned about his health. I have been requesting him for the last three to four days to please end his hunger strike," Dibke said.
But Wangchuk isn't budging, Dibke said — his position has been that the real story isn't his fast, it's the government's continued silence, its refusal to open any dialogue with the protesters camped out here.
The numbers back up the concern. Dibke said Wangchuk has lost more than 9 kg, with visible muscle loss now setting in. Vitals are holding for now, but doctors have flagged that prolonged fasting risks organ damage if it drags on much longer.
Building up toward Parliament
The date circled on everyone's calendar is July 20 — the day organisers expect supporters from across the country to converge at Jantar Mantar before marching on Parliament. Dibke said MPs cutting across party lines are expected to join in.
"We think now it's time to go to the Parliament and keep our demands there," he said.
On whether Delhi Police will actually let the march through, Dibke sounded confident it would — the protest, he said, has stayed peaceful throughout, and he doesn't expect that to change now. At the centre of it all remains one demand: accountability, and the resignation of the minister the protesters hold responsible for the deaths of more than 20 students.
"The country has gone back to asking questions"
For Dibke, the month at Jantar Mantar has already delivered its biggest win regardless of what happens next — it's got people talking again.
Why the march, why now
"The country has finally gone back to asking questions and raising their voice," he said, pointing to years of political reticence that he says the protest has broken through.
There is a lot of muscle loss that is happening and we are very concerned about his health," he admitted — but he wants the conversation to stay on the demands, not just the man's body count in kilos
Sourabh Das, another organiser, echoed that sense of momentum. "More than 1.7 lakh people have joined us here at Jantar Mantar," he said, describing how the site has turned into something bigger than a sit-in — a running, late-into-the-night conversation about politics, society, education.
Das pushed back on the idea that the hunger strike should simply give way to some other tactic.
The protest, he argued, has always escalated in stages — a one-day demonstration, then a sit-in, then the fast, and now the march — each one peaceful, each one within constitutional bounds.
"Everything that is done peacefully within the four corners of the Constitution is a legitimate form of protest," he said.
Even as he defended the march, Das didn't downplay the toll on Wangchuk. "There is a lot of muscle loss that is happening and we are very concerned about his health," he admitted — but he wants the conversation to stay on the demands, not just the man's body count in kilos.
He drew a pointed historical comparison: when Wangchuk's father went on hunger strike in Ladakh, then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi stepped in to resolve it through direct talks. Das wants to know why no such engagement has happened this time.
