The seventeenth day of protests at Jantar Mantar on Tuesday (July 14, 2026) demanding Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation saw larger crowds than Monday (July 13, 2026), following an increasing number of voices urging activist Sonam Wangchuk to end his hunger strike.
Mr. Wangchuk has lost 8.5 kilograms, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) said.
AAP chief Kejriwal urges Wangchuk to end hunger strike; will meet him on July 16
A growing chorus of Opposition voices urged Mr. Wangchuk, 59, to end his fast. Actors Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah, economist Jayati Ghosh, writer Arundhati Roy, and multiple professors from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, either sent in a written petition or showed up in person to appeal to Mr. Wangchuk.
As concerns grow over Mr. Wangchuk’s health, the crowd swelled on Tuesday (July 14, 2026), growing threefold overnight. Over 1,800 “writers, academics, social activists and other concerned citizens” signed on to an online petition asking Mr. Wangchuk to end his fast.
Three students with the All India Students’ Association (AISA), affiliated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation, ended their fast, with one being hospitalised on Monday. Three other students remain, and have vowed to fast until the conclusion of the hunger strike one way or another.
Day 17 of Sonam Sir's Hunger-Strike.
He has started losing muscle mass and is in immense pain. Like everyone else, I begged him to end his fast.
He calmly replied, "Don't ask me to end my fast. Ask the govt why they won't even have a dialogue." pic.twitter.com/xPKFqJz4vL
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav appealed to Mr. Wangchuk to end his fast in a post on X.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra said on X, “The government doesn’t care about your life or that of crores of youth. But your life matters to us. Please call off the fast and continue the fight.”
Former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee spoke with Mr. Wangchuk over the phone and “urged him to stay strong,” Abhijeet Dipke, CJP’s founder, said on X. Omi Vaidya, the American actor who played Chatur Ramalingam in 3 Idiots, whose protagonist is said to be based on Mr. Wangchuk, also urged in a video that the fast come to an end.
Mr. Dipke said on Tuesday morning that Mr. Wangchuk rebuffed calls to end his fast. ““Don’t ask me to end my fast,” Mr. Dipke quoted the activist as saying in a post on X. “Ask the govt. why they won’t even have a dialogue.”
I am not Gandhi; be your own hero: Wangchuk amid indefinite fast
The CJP invited Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi to the protest, along with nineteen other political leaders, including Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay. Most of the leaders have not spoken on the protest. “We again sincerely appeal to the leaders to keep aside their politics and lend their voice to the voice of the young,” CJP spokesperson Saurav Das said.
Two former Delhi Chief Ministers have spoken up on Mr. Wangchuk’s fast, Arvind Kejriwal and Aatishi. The latter visited the protest site and met with the activist on Monday. Mr. Kejriwal said that he supported the CJP’s demands, and urged Mr. Wangchuk to end his fast.
Published - July 14, 2026 12:07 pm IST