Shashi Tharoor appeals to Sonam Wangchuk to break fast, urges government to engage in talks

3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jul 16, 2026 05:19 AM IST

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. (Express Photo by Rohit Jain Paras)

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday exhorted activist Sonam Wangchuk, who entered the 18th day of his hunger strike at Jantar Mantar, to end his fast and urged the government to engage with the protesting students.

In an open letter to the Jantar Mantar protestors, led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), Tharoor said his request came in the vein of “someone deeply troubled by what is happening to your generation of young Indians”. CJP and the protesters are seeking the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is facing backlash over alleged irregularities in national-level examniations.

With Parliament set to be in session from Monday, Tharoor said there will be an opportunity to raise the students’ issues in the highest forum of democracy. “That’s where the problem should be addressed, not by fasting unto death. Please heed my plea,” he wrote on a post on X.

Discussing his academic journey, the parliamentarian said that he knows that “a fair, merit-based system is the only ladder for young people from lower and middle-income families to climb up”.

“When that ladder is broken — papers leaked, examinations cancelled, trust destroyed — the children of the rich and powerful do not suffer. They have other ladders. It is your dreams, and your families’ sacrifices (and tragically, in some homes, young lives themselves) that are betrayed. To the young people gathered at Jantar Mantar, and those raising your voices peacefully across India: this country hears you. Your anger is not indiscipline — it is the anguish of a generation that did everything right and was still betrayed,” wrote Tharoor.

He appealed to the young to “not lose hope”. Addressing Wangchuk, he made a “heartfelt appeal” and said: “Please end your fast. You have awakened the conscience of the nation; that is what a fast is meant to do. India needs your voice for the long road ahead.”

“That’s where the problem should be addressed, not by fasting unto death. And finally, to the Government: I respectfully urge you to reach out and engage in the dialogue our democracy owes its young citizens. That is not weakness; that is statesmanship,” he wrote.