In the famous Jantar Mantar of Delhi, under the blazing heat of July, a thin and feeble 59-year-old man is lying on a cot made of pillows and beds. Sonam Wangchuk, the world-renowned engineer, teacher, and climate activist from Ladakh has not taken any meal since June 28, 2026. In the 18th or 19th day of his indefinite fasting, the man has already lost 8 kilograms of weight; his blood pressure is 105-109/70-76 mmHg and his blood sugar level is very low. But he has not given up yet. “I am weak externally, but internally strong,” he has said, rejecting any appeal to stop the fasting.
It is not any regular protest rally that Sonam Wangchuk has initiated. In collaboration with youth-based Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a satirical movement, which came out of the frustrations regarding India’s deteriorating education system, Wangchuk has put forward two demands. The two demands include compensation for NEET-UG paper leak case where 2.2 million aspiring doctors’ dreams were crushed and constitutional protection for Ladakh’s tribal people and environment.
A Life of Innovation and Resistance
Wangchuk was born in a far-off Ladakhi village without any schooling facility and taught himself till he turned nine years old. After studying mechanical engineering, he came back to his home state to revolutionize education. He co-founded SECMOL (Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh) in 1988, which enhanced the passing percentage by making the education system meaningful through relating it to their own culture and languages. Some of his inventions are the well-known “ice stupas,” which act as artificial glaciers to store the winter water for irrigation in summer for the dry high altitude desert. The entire university is run by solar energy.
Receiving the Ramon Magsaysay award for his work in the international field, Wangchuk has been a proponent of non-violence tactics, which have included hunger strikes to advocate for the rights of the people of Ladakh. Following the 2019 repeal of article 370 and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir, the region turned into a Union Territory. Although this step was initially met with approval from many people, the locals called for the implementation of the Sixth Schedule as a way of ensuring self-governance to prevent exploitation of land, culture, employment, and environment by outsiders.
The Spark: NEET Scandal and Youth Anger
The primary trigger for this particular fast was the NEET-UG 2026 exam leak. This examination, which took place in May and involved more than 22 lakh students, had to be canceled due to some confirmed irregularities. While a re-examination was organized after this fiasco, the harm was done and the consequences were catastrophic for many. There were reports of suicides committed by students due to this fiasco and loss of trust in the entire system. Launched as a joke in May 2026 to respond to the derogatory comments of the judges about the activists of the youth movement, CJP organized a sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar to demand resignation of the Education Minister, compensation for the affected and reforms in the process. Wangchuk, who has been in education all his life and who was shocked by the betrayal of the students, announced on June 25 that he is going to start fasting from June 28 if there is no response from the government.
A Body Breaking, A Will Unyielding
However, by mid-July, the effects on his body were beginning to show. The medical updates indicated that he had been losing weight steadily (with a loss of about 8.5–8.9 kg according to some reports), had muscle wastage, felt dizzy, experienced pain, and had problems walking. A medical team keeps him under observation round-the-clock at the protest venue. His fellow protesters and founder member of CJP, Abhijeet Dipke, have tried to persuade him to end the fast, but Wangchuk is determined: “Thank you for all the messages to end my hunger strike, but that won’t help in bringing back the 20 students who killed themselves or save the mountains of Ladakh or rivers of India from destruction.” He has asked his supporters not to try to convince him to end the fast but to put pressure on the government to come for a dialogue.
Political Silence and National Reckoning
With the upcoming Monsoon session of the parliament, there is now talk of a peaceful march towards the Sansad organized by Wangchuk and his team on the 20th of July. Meanwhile, CJP goes on with its sit-in which has now been ongoing for more than 25 days.Health-related issues become increasingly pressing, but the determination of Wangchuk turned the localized educational protest into a bigger discussion about accountability, federalism, and environmental justice.Sonam Wangchuk does not aspire to be a martyr; he is just a citizen – a humble one, as he says – doing his duty towards the future generation and his native country. Depending on how the government acts, whether it will go on with its silence or engage in dialogue, will depend on whether this hunger strike is going to be a turning point or another missed chance.India waits with anticipation. Amidst the walls of the Jantar Mantar, an empty stomach of one man makes his country see what it really is doing in terms of its education system, treatment of peripheral territories, and price of silence towards the voices of peaceful conscience.
