Sonam Wangchuk forcibly hospitalized; CJP founder gets off to a fast start, promises to march on Parliament on July 20

Activist Sonam Wangchuk, who has been on an indefinite hunger strike for 21 days, waves as he is taken to a hospital from Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on July 18, 2026. Photo credit: PTI

Activist Sonam Wangchuk was taken away by the police from the Jantar Mantar protest site on Saturday morning (July 18, 2026), a disruption to the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led protest demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Also Read: Sonam Wangchuk Hunger Strike Highlights 18 July 2026

Mr. Wangchuk, who is on an indefinite hunger strike for the 21st day, was caught behind raised curtains by plainclothes police within minutes, shortly after mobile internet was briefly shut down in the area, according to two people at the scene. He was admitted to Safdarjung Government Hospital.

The forced hospitalization occurred two days before the planned march of the CJP to the parliament, in which the activist insisted on his participation. Gitanjali J. Angmo, Mr. Wangchuk’s wife, said she could not visit him with a smartphone in hand and that his personal doctor and lawyer were denied access. Central security personnel have been added at the entrance gates of Safdarjung Hospital.

Wangchuk rejects interventions

The Deputy Commissioner of Police in New Delhi said in a statement that Mr. Wangchuk was taken to a hospital on the orders of the Delhi High Court to closely monitor his health. The court did not specifically order his hospitalization. Mr. Wangchuk refused to allow intravenous or oral medical procedures during his hospitalization, Safdarjung Hospital said in an afternoon bulletin. Ms Angmo urged the hospital to move him to a facility that suits her.

Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of CJP, was kept in a flat during the police action at Jantar Mantar and was released only after Mr. Wangchuk was hospitalized. Mr Dipke vowed to continue with Monday’s strike and said he would start his own hunger strike. He urged people to gather at Jantar Mantar as he feared an overnight police operation to clear the place. Later in the day, Mr. Dipke was subjected to an ink attack. The Delhi Police have arrested the attacker, whose identity has not yet been released.

Crowds thronged the protest site into the evening; police loudspeakers urged them to clear out earlier in the day shortly after Mr. Wangchuk’s departure. Three students from the All India Students’ Association CPI (ML) Liberation continued their simultaneous hunger strike at the site.

Opposition opposition

Opposition parties strongly condemned the forced hospitalization of Mr. Wangchuk. “The removal of Sonam Wangchuk ji from Jantar Mantar while she was on a non-violent hunger strike is wrong… No force can deter Indian students and those of us who love and believe in them from raising these issues,” said Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, who hosted his own program on the exam irregularities in Dehradun on Friday evening.

Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called for more crowds to gather at the protest site. Mr Dipke and Mr Wangchuk are “fighting for the future of your children,” Mr Kejriwal said in a video message. “Sitting at home won’t work anymore. Now everyone has to come together and take to the streets. That’s the only way something will change in this country.”

“The news that Mr. Sonam Wangchuk was forcibly removed from his hunger strike using force is extremely condemnable,” Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav said. “BJP’s thinking is divisive; therefore, wherever there is unity, harmony and solidarity, BJP reacts like reactionaries out of fear and disperses the movement.”

“A government that treats dissent as a threat instead of a democratic duty cannot demand trust while shirking responsibility,” former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said in a post on X.

“If the government is genuinely concerned about Sonam Wangchuk’s health, it should engage with the protesters and address their legitimate demands instead of resorting to repression,” Communist Party of India General Secretary D. Raja told X.

Published – 18 July 2026 09:00 IST