18 July,2026 01:16 PM IST | New Delhi | mid-day online correspondent
Pic/PTI
Opposition parties on Saturday strongly criticised the Centre after climate activist Sonam Wangchuk was removed from the Jantar Mantar protest site in New Delhi and admitted to Safdarjung Hospital following a prolonged hunger strike. Leaders from several opposition parties alleged that the action amounted to suppression of peaceful protest and accused the government of avoiding dialogue over the demands raised by the protesters.
Wangchuk has been on an indefinite hunger strike since June 28 in support of the Cockroach Janata Party's (CJP) agitation over alleged examination irregularities and the demand for the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. His removal from the protest site came two days before a proposed march to Parliament scheduled for July 20, the opening day of the Monsoon Session.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal alleged that the Centre should have engaged with Wangchuk instead of removing him from the protest site.
"Such arrogance is not right. Instead of forcibly lifting him, the (Narendra) Modi government should have talked to Sonam Wangchuk. Instead of crushing the cockroach movement and reforming the country's education and examination system, the Modi government's defeat is in forcibly dealing with Sonam Wangchuk," Kejriwal alleged.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray also criticised the action, calling it an attack on democratic rights.
"What a shame! The world watches democracy in India being broken by force, shamelessly. Even peaceful protests for students against an incompetent minister are not tolerated anymore," he alleged.
Congress MP Pawan Khera, who met Wangchuk on Friday, said the Constitution guarantees citizens the right to peaceful protest and alleged that the Union government was treating dissent as a law-and-order issue.
"The Delhi Police reports directly to the Home Ministry - the very ministry that appointed a new police commissioner in Delhi just yesterday. If today's crackdown is his first brief, it sends a chilling message: political obedience takes precedence over Constitutional duty," he alleged.
Khera further criticised the government's handling of protests.
"From dragging away women wrestlers to manhandling ex-servicemen, this government has repeatedly demonstrated its contempt for the Constitutionâ¦peaceful protest is not a fundamental democratic right to be protected, but a law-and-order problem to be crushed. It is a shame that the world's largest democracy is being âruled' by the most undemocratic and anti-democratic political party of the world," he added.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav termed Wangchuk's removal "utterly reprehensible" and demanded that his treatment at Safdarjung Hospital be conducted under judicial oversight.
"The forcible removal of Shri Sonam Wangchuk Ji from his indefinite fast site through the use of âforce' is an utterly reprehensible development. This incidentâ¦has already spread across the entire country and the whole world in a short span of time. The entire world and the nation are deeply concerned about Shri Sonam Wangchuk Ji, and there is also widespread outrage against the BJP government," he said.
Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief Sharad Pawar also criticised the Centre, alleging that the government acted only after the situation escalated.
"When the government realised that the situation was going beyond its control, it decided to take action. This morning, they arrested him. Even if he has been arrested, the protest will continue," Pawar said.
He further claimed that no representative of the Union government had met Wangchuk during his hunger strike and said the Opposition would raise the issue during the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut alleged that Wangchuk's removal was timed to divert public attention from the party's 'Ram Raksha' protest being held in Nagpur under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray.
"This is pure tyranny. The government failed to resolve the core issues for which Sonam Wangchuk was fasting for 21 days," Raut said.
He further alleged:
"The second motive behind this brutal suppression of Sonam Wangchuk is to divert the spotlight from the massive 'Elgar' (protest call) being launched in Nagpur today under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray against the looting of the Ram Mandir. He was forcibly detained and hospitalized just to shift the media and public gaze," Raut claimed.
Trinamool Congress MP Sagarika Ghose alleged that the government acted because it was concerned about Wangchuk's proposed march to Parliament.
"It is dictatorship and is unacceptable, unfortunate, and constitutes an assault on democracy and the rights of the people," she said.
AAP leaders Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and Saurabh Bharadwaj also criticised the Delhi Police action, alleging that the government was attempting to suppress peaceful dissent instead of addressing concerns over alleged examination irregularities.
