Fears for Indian activist’s life after 18 days of hunger strike

A doctor, right, examines educationist and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, center, who undertakes an indefinite hunger strike during a Cockroach Janta Party protest demanding the resignation of India's Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged examination irregularities and repeated paper leaks in New Delhi, India, Thursday, July 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Shekhar Yadav)

A New Delhi court ordered government doctors on Thursday to monitor activist Sonam Wangchuk’s health daily, as supporters fear for his life after nearly three weeks of hunger strike to protest India’s examination system.

Wangchuk, 59, has been fasting since June 28, demanding the resignation of Indian Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged irregularities in medical entrance, and other reforms.

Angry students from across India have joined protests in recent weeks organised by the satirical Cockroach Janta Party online movement, with many saying repeated paper leaks have left them with little faith in the system.

Wangchuk, resting on a stage in New Delhi’s well-known protest site Jantar Mantar, appeared frail and weak on Thursday as he waved to supporters.

Following a petition, the Delhi High Court ordered on Thursday that “whatever medical intervention is needed to save Sonam Wangchuk’s life should be done.”

The “life of any citizen is precious,” the court said.

The petition filed this week by activist lawyer Rakesh Kumar Saini warned that Wangchuk may not survive for long if he did not break his fast.

Some of Wangchuk’s supporters and members of the protest movement have asked him to end his hunger strike.

An engineer by training, Wangchuk is best known for pioneering water conservation projects in the Himalayas.

He received the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2018 for his environmental work and contributions to reforming local school system in the Himalayan territory of Ladakh.

A group of about a dozen students have also been on a hunger strike alongside Wangchuk, including Bahadur Singh from the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

“I am not fasting for myself. This is about every student who has lost hope in the system,” Singh, 29, told AFP.

Last month, some 2.2 million aspiring medical students sat for a re-examination under tight security, after the previous test was scrapped following a paper leak that triggered widespread outrage.

The failure of the hugely competitive exam, along with a separate marking fiasco in high school tests, sparked an outcry and fuelled youth protests.

Several members of opposition parties have voiced their support to Wangchuk and the student activists.

“This country hears you,” Shashi Tharoor of the Congress party said in a social media post.

“Your anger is not indiscipline, it is the anguish of a generation that did everything right and was still betrayed.”