Indian activist Sonam Wangchuk ends hunger strike, but ‘cockroach’ protests to continue

Indian activist Sonam Wangchuk ended a 26-day hunger strike on Friday over leaked medical school entrance exam papers that protesters say enabled cheating, but demonstrations demanding the education minister’s resignation were set to continue in the biggest youth-led challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

Youth protesters, led by the self-named Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) movement, demand that Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resign over the leaks that affected some 2 million students in May and are linked to several student suicides.

Wangchuk said on social media that he broke his fast ‌in the presence of two federal ministers at the urging of scores of members of parliament and following “a long negotiation on various conditions and in view of possible violence in the country”.

He did not elaborate on the talks but promised to lay out details in a video soon.

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke thanked Wangchuk, 59, for his “courage and sacrifice” and said the protests would continue until Pradhan resigns. “We won’t let Sonam sir’s sacrifice go in vain,” he added in a video message.

Late on Tuesday, Pradhan, in his first comments since demands for his resignation were made, said that the government was committed to addressing concerns and reforming exams.

The protests represent the biggest youth challenge to Modi since he came to power in 2014. Opposition parties have echoed the youth movement’s demands and have disrupted the monsoon session of parliament that ⁠began this week.
After Wangchuk ended his hunger strike, Modi urged the activist to follow doctors’ advice and “regain weight lost” during his fast.

Protesters have called for nationwide demonstrations on Friday in solidarity with students who alleged police brutality during ‌a march on parliament on Monday by tens of thousands of people, even as Modi’s government urged them to join talks.

Thousands of people had returned to the Jantar Mantar protest site by Thursday afternoon, carrying anti-government posters and chanting slogans amid heavy security deployment. The protests have shut metro stations and mobile internet services and curtailed business in central ‌Delhi.

Protests also have spread to other cities, including Ranchi, Pune, Thiruvananthapuram and Kolkata, local media reported.