The Cockroach activist Sonam Wangchuk has ended a ۲۶-day hunger strike, as youth-led protests continued to erupt across India and leaders of the movement said there was no breakthrough in talks with the government.
Wangchuk had been fasting since June in solidarity with the Cockroach Janata party (CJP), a new youth-led movement that has been holding mass protests calling for government accountability and the resignation of the education minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, over exam paper leaks. The leaks affected ۲ million students in May and have been linked to more than a dozen suicides.
On Friday morning, Wangchuk posted that he had ended the hunger strike in Delhi after striking a “hard bargain” with the government.
In a video from his hospital bed, he said he had been assured in writing that accountability in the examination system would be taken up on the parliament floor and that there would be no cases registered against young people who took part in mass protests in Delhi on Monday.
After ۲۶ days without food, Wanghuck appeared weak but in lively spirits. The hunger strike has long been a powerful tool of protest in India – repeatedly used by Mahatma Gandhi in the fight for Indian independence. Gandhi’s longest hunger strike was ۲۱ days.
After Wangchuk ended his hunger strike, Modi urged the activist to follow doctors’ advice and regain the weight he had lost.
The CJP’s founder, Abhijeet Dipke, thanked Wangchuk for his “courage and sacrifice” and said the protests would continue until Pradhan resigned. “We won’t let Sonam sir’s sacrifice go in vain,” Dipke added.
Protests erupted across India on Friday as part of the countrywide callout, with huge demonstrations in Bengalaru, Mumbai, Nagpur, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata, some with turnouts of more than ۱۰۰,۰۰۰.
On Friday, CJP leaders said the government had agreed to meet them in a “neutral location” to discuss their demands.
However, in the aftermath of the meeting, the CJP’s spokesperson, Ashutosh Rank, said that no resolution had been agreed and the government had requested more time to consider their key demand, the resignation of Pradhan.
“We hope the government will dismiss Dharmendra Pradhan at the earliest, or that he will resign, so that we can bring this matter to a conclusion,” said Ranka.
The senior government minister JP Nadda confirmed that talks between the two sides would resume on Saturday.
As talks stalled on Friday, thousands of protesters continued to gather at CJP’s protest site in Delhi, in an unprecedented show of support for the dissenting movement. Tens of thousands more are expected to turn up over the weekend.
Authorities shut down ۱۷ metro rail stations near the protest site. In a move that was criticised by human rights groups, the government also ordered telecom companies to block mobile internet services in the area. However, it did little to stem the tide of people turning out.
“It feels so positive out here,” said Afreen Ali, ۲۱, a student at Delhi university, who stood among the crowds. “I’m feeling so mesmerised to see all my Indian brothers, my sisters, my youth, everyone out here protesting for their rights and for their education. It was the blood of our freedom fighters that brought us independence, and we are here to fight for that country.”
The protests represent the biggest youth challenge to Modi since he came to power in ۲۰۱۴. Opposition parties have echoed the youth movement’s demands and have disrupted the monsoon session of parliament that began this week.
On Thursday, Modi said special courts would be set up to prosecute those behind exam paper leaks, his first public response to the crisis. “Nothing is more important than the welfare and future of our youth!” he posted on social media.
But the CJP rejected the proposal, saying what courts do after paper leaks is just one aspect of the problem. “But Modi-ji, tell us why are paper leaks happening in this country in the first place?” said Ranka.
“Fast-track courts are set up in this country for every other issue, but whether those fast-track courts have actually solved those issues – you know the answer to that question, and so do we.”
Later in the day, Modi said on social media that the government would announce more strict actions against paper leaks at a cabinet meeting on Friday.
After top Bollywood stars were hit with criticism for staying silent about the protests, some of India’s biggest actors, including Salman Khan, Alia Bhatt and Kareena Kapoor, released social media posts saying it was heartening to see students come together to fight for a cause – though stopped short of criticising the Modi government.
