Sonam Wangchuk’s Hunger Strike Continues: Wife Says His Decision to Join Youth Protest Was Organic

Climate activist and education reformer Sonam Wangchuk’s decision to join the ongoing protest at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, was an organic development, according to his wife, Gitanjali J. Angmo. The protest, led by a youth group, has been demanding action over irregularities in the NEET examination and the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. It entered its 26th day on Wednesday.

Ms. Angmo said Mr. Wangchuk, who is deeply passionate about education, connected with the issue after learning about the social media movement and the discontent among young people. “He wants to hand-hold them and wants every well-meaning person to join the movement,” she told The Hindu. She emphasised that Mr. Wangchuk’s involvement aims to ensure the cause is not sabotaged by nefarious elements.

Before joining this protest, Mr. Wangchuk was actively involved in a movement for Ladakh’s constitutional safeguards, including statehood and inclusion in the Sixth Schedule. He attended a meeting at the Union Home Ministry on May 22 to discuss these demands. This followed a 170-day detention under the National Security Act (NSA), from which he was released on March 14 after the Ministry revoked the Act. He had been detained following violence in Leh city on September 24, 2025, that left four people dead. Police had labelled him the “ringleader,” a charge he denies.

Ms. Angmo said Mr. Wangchuk feels committed to the youth protest because “nobody has the potential to take on the government.” She cited that when people raise their voices, raids by government agencies follow. “He wants to be the third voice. This is a genuine issue, resignation is the first step to accountability. Students committed suicides following the paper leak,” she added.

Mr. Wangchuk’s health is deteriorating. According to a medical bulletin issued by the protest organisers, he remains “very weak” and under 24-hour medical vigilance. His weight has fallen to 57.15 kg, a drop of 400 grams in the last 24 hours, totalling a loss of 8.9 kg since the fast began. His blood pressure was 105/76 mm Hg, blood sugar 80 mg/dL, and oxygen saturation 97%. His wife noted that he is surviving on salt and water, and that the humid Delhi heat makes the fast more punishing than in Ladakh, where he has previously fasted for up to 21 days.

Mr. Wangchuk, a Ramon Magsaysay Award winner in 2018, is known for his educational initiatives, including the founding of the Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL) in 1988 and the Himalayan Institute of Alternative Learning in 2018. Before his detention, the Ladakh administration cancelled the land allotted to the institute, and the Ministry cancelled SECMOL’s FCRA registration. His personal background—home-schooled by his single mother in Ladakhi until age nine, and learning English and Urdu through radio and billboards—shapes his commitment to education reform.