Activist Sonam Wangchuk, who has been on an indefinite fast for the past 26 days over irregularities in NEET UG examination, ended his hunger strike on Friday in presence of Union Ministers JP Nadda and Dr Jitendra Singh.
The development comes after the two met the activist at the Medanta Hospital in Gurugram where Wangchuk has been admitted after his health deteriorated due to the hunger strike.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Wangchuk said he was able to end his fast following long negotiations and he will make a separate video to explain the conditions in detail. He also urged everyone to stay very vigilant about not allowing violence of any kind anywhere.
"Just now in the presence of Union Ministers Sh. JP Nadda, Dr. Jitendra Singh and the senior leaders of Apex Body of Leh Ladakh I finally broke my fast after 26 days," he said. "Earlier 65 members of parliament from different political parties had visited or signed letters urging me to break the fast."
The engineer-turned-education reformer had launched his hunger strike on June 28 after he joined the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest, seeking Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation.
He was initially hospitalised at the Safdarjung Hospital but was shifted to the Medanta Hospital following an order by the Delhi High Court on a plea by his wife Gitanjali J Angmo.
Notably, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke had also appealed to Wangchuk to his hunger strike earlier saying the country needs him and "his life is far too precious".
Coming to the NEET paper leak protest, the CJP has called a nationwide protest on Friday. The government has also reached out to the CJP for talks and said discussions could either happen at Nadda's residence or at office. However, the CJP has refuted it and said the union ministers must come to Jantar Mantar or any other venue near the protest site for the talks if security is concerned.
The CJP has also remained firm on Pradhan's resignation, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured the students that all paper leak cases will now be fast-tracked and the guilty will be brought to justice.
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