Vishal Dadlani, Prakash Raj slam police action against Sonam Wangchuk: ‘Boiling with anger’

3 min readNew DelhiJul 18, 2026 04:09 PM IST

Film personalities support Sonam Wangchuk. (File photo)

After 20 days on a hunger strike, engineer, educator and environmentalist Sonam Wangchuk was taken from Delhi’s Jantar Mantar protest site to Safdarjung Hospital by Delhi Police. Delhi Police said Wangchuk was admitted on the advice of medical experts and in compliance with directions issued by the Delhi High Court. The move, however, drew criticism from several film personalities, including Vishal Dadlani and Prakash Raj, who voiced their support for Wangchuk.

Vishal Dadlani, Prakash Raj condemn police action

Reacting to the development, singer-composer Vishal Dadlani shared a video on Instagram expressing his anger over Wangchuk being taken away from the protest site. He said, “Have you ever seen such a thing? Sonam ji was forcibly taken away. These people are ruining this country. It breaks my heart. People of my country, when will you wake up? If you don’t wake up now, then when will you? I don’t know what to say. I don’t know what to think. I just wish I was there to help him somehow. I am boiling with anger.”

Actor Prakash Raj also condemned the police action. Taking to X, he wrote, “The world is witnessing a coward government that doesn’t want to engage in dialogue with the youth but wants to behave like dictators. Forcibly taking away @Wangchuk66 and disrupting students’ peaceful protest is a sign of fear. What a shame. #JustAsking.”

In another post, he wrote, “Parde ke peeche kya hai? Chappan inch ka dara hua nangapan (What lies behind the curtain is the frightened nakedness of the ’56-inch’ chest). What’s behind the screen? Fifty-six inches of shivering nakedness. #JustAsking.”

ALSO READ | Hrithik Roshan, Shatrughan Sinha support Sonam Wangchuk: ‘This sounds true’

Abhijit Dipke begins indefinite hunger strike

Sonam Wangchuk has been on an indefinite hunger strike at Jantar Mantar since June 28. The protest, organised by the Cockroach Janta Party, seeks the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the alleged NEET-UG paper leak and other examination-related irregularities.

Hours after Wangchuk was shifted to Safdarjung Hospital, Cockroach Janata Party founder Abhijit Dipke announced that he was launching an indefinite hunger strike in solidarity with the activist. “I am starting an indefinite hunger strike beginning right now,” he wrote on X.

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Wangchuk’s wife says Parliament march will go ahead

Meanwhile, Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali J. Angmo, said he is “absolutely fine” but claimed Safdarjung Hospital had declined to share copies of his medical reports despite repeated requests. Speaking to PTI, she also said the planned march to Parliament on July 20 would go ahead as scheduled, with Wangchuk participating.

Several members of the film fraternity had earlier extended their support to Wangchuk’s protest, including Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah, Zeenat Aman, Shabana Azmi, Sonakshi Sinha, Hrithik Roshan, Vijay Varma, Abhay Deol, Anurag Kashyap, Omi Vaidya, Sayaji Shinde, Shreya Dhanwanthary and Swara Bhasker.