Activist Sonam Wangchuk on Monday confirmed that he will continue his hunger strike till the leaders of the Cockroch Janata Party (CJP) protesting against the NEET-UG paper leak are permitted to meet the MPs of Parliament or the MPs come to the Delhi hospital, where he is currently admitted.
In a handwritten note shared on social media platform X, Wangchuk slammed the government for "brutality" against "peaceful" CJP protesters during their planned march towards the Parliament in demand of the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET-UG paper leak. "I will continue my fast (day 23). Seeing the brutality with which peacefully protesting youth are being dealt with, I have decided to continue my fast until the youth leaders are allowed to meet the Parliamentarians at the Sansad Bhawan or I am allowed to meet them here at the hospital," Wangchuk said in a handwritten statement shared on X, which also has his signature.
"Hopefully the government will fix the accountability of the education minister before that. I am touched and moved by how the youth have held on to peace despite provocation, and I appeal to the government and the police to resolve the issue by simply allowing the students to present their grievances before parliament today or tomorrow," the activist said.
He further hoped that the "young protesters will show the same patience and tolerance tomorrow as they did today." This came hours after the Union Health Minister JP Nadda confirmed that the CJP representatives reached out for discussion.
CJP reach out to government for talks
Meanwhile, the representatives from the CJP, the satirical political outfit which is leading the protest against the Education Minister, reached out to Nadda with the "first proposal" to hold talks with the government. "This morning, for the first time, a proposal came from the protesters to hold talks with the government, and our discussions have been ongoing since 11:50 AM," Nadda said on X.
"The meeting took place in a cordial atmosphere. An initial verbal discussion was held in detail with their delegation, and they submitted a written petition to me around 4 PM. I have requested all the protesters to end their sit-in and assist the administration in restoring normalcy," he added.
Sonam Wangchuk's wife hits out at government
Meanwhile, Wangchuk's wife, Dr Gitanjali Angmo, hit out at the government and the police for their action against the youth protesters. "This is a movement that has caught the imagination of the entire nation. We have people here from the whole country, and there are more than 25 lakh youth across a 5 km radius. The police and the government are only resorting to lies to control the situation. They are just doing lathi charges, misusing their power and using lies. They are now saying that the protest is over, go back," she told the media.
"The government tried to shut the metros, ubers and everything today. I walked for 1.5 kilometres to see that so many people have turned up. It should be a wake-up call for the government that it cannot be held by power and force in the future. It has to be resolved now, and it has to be taken cognisance of. They cannot just do this blame game and resort to lies. They have been obfuscating information about everything. This is a wake-up call for them that they cannot continue doing what they have been doing. Everybody, 12 years ago, elected them to power with a lot of hope that they would make India a superpower, a developed nation, but they have failed miserably," she added.
ALSO READ | 'PM Modi the most youth-hostile PM of India,' Rahul Gandhi lambasts Centre over CJP protest
