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Police shift fasting Indian activist to hospital against his will
NEW DELHI: Authorities in India’s capital Delhi moved social activist Sonam Wangchuk to hospital against his wish on Saturday, after his condition worsened on the 21st day of a hunger strike launched to demand the resignation of the federal education minister. Wangchuk, 59, had been fasting since June 28 in solidarity with India’s youth Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which is demanding Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan step down over exam paper leaks in May that affected millions of students. Wangchuk’s campaign has emerged as a rare public challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, drawing support across India and amplifying the activist’s demands through millions of views and shares on social media. Television footage on Saturday showed dozens of security personnel, some in plain clothes, holding large white cloth sheets like a curtain on a stage that had been created for the protest before Wangchuk was taken away. Wangchuk had told government doctors on Friday that he did not wish to be moved to a hospital. Police asked protesters to leave “In compliance with the court’s order, and based on health conditions and medical advice, Mr Sonam Wangchuk has been moved from here to an appropriate government hospital for much-needed medical intervention,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Sachin Sharma told reporters at the site. Wangchuk is weak due to prolonged fasting and dehydration, the state-run Safdarjung Hospital said in a statement. “Although he is currently stable, he requires continuous observation, monitoring and treatment,” it said. Satish Lamba, Wangchuk’s personal doctor, said the current concern was the risk of hypokalemia, according to the doctor monitoring him at hospital. Hypokalemia refers to low levels of potassium in the blood, and a severe or sudden drop can be life-threatening. Potassium can be replaced in a hospital through intravenous therapy. On Thursday, the Delhi High Court asked authorities to watch Wangchuk’s health closely and intervene if needed, in response to a petition asking authorities to force-feed him as his health weakened. Police also moved some CJP supporters who were staging a sit-in at the venue, asking them to vacate the area. But a few hundred returned later in the day as CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke began an indefinite hunger strike after Wangchuk was taken away. “They dragged Sonam Sir away … We have no idea where they have taken him,” Dipke told reporters. Protesters from the CJP said they would march to India’s parliament on July 20, when the monsoon session begins, to press their demand for Pradhan’s resignation and seek exam reforms. Protest follows earlier hunger strike Wangchuk had been at the centre of CJP’s protests, lying on a mattress in the middle of a stage, as supporters and visitors to the protest site milled about. Last year, Modi’s government accused Wangchuk of inciting people through what it said were provocative statements during violent protests in the federal Himalayan territory of Ladakh, to which he belongs. Wangchuk, who had staged another hunger strike at the time, spent about six months in jail before being released in March this year. He has denied the allegations against him, and said the violent protests were a reflection of frustration with the federal government. On the third day of his fast, Wangchuk told Reuters his fast would last six weeks unless he died first. “But hopefully, we don’t have to go that far,” he had said. “A sensitive government in a democracy listens to the pains of the people, and I hope they will take action.” The hunger strike generated widespread attention on social media. Users have posted more than 100,000 Instagram reels urging Wangchuk to abandon the protest.
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