‘Protest to continue despite Delhi Police action against Sonam Wangchuk’: Sharad Pawar

Written by: Manoj Dattatreya More

4 min readPuneUpdated: Jul 18, 2026 04:27 PM IST

Protest at the Azad Maidan in Mumbai Saturday against the Delhi Police. (Express Photo)

The forcible removal of activist Sonam Wangchuk from his protest site at the Jantar Mantar by the Delhi Police on Saturday morning has sparked a wave of criticism from Opposition leaders and activists.

Wangchuk was on hunger strike since June 28 in support of the Cockroach Janta Party’s demand for the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged paper leaks in competitive exams like the NEET (UG).

Speaking to reporters in Baramati, NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar alleged that the Modi government was “irresponsible” in handling Wangchuk’s agitation and accused it of acting like a spectator rather than addressing the genuine demands put forth by students.

Pawar said he was certain that the agitation would continue despite Wangchuk being hospitalised. “The government moved the activist to the hospital as the situation went beyond its control. Despite this, the protest would continue,” he added.

Stating that the demands of the students were genuine, Pawar lamented that despite the activist being on a fast for 20 days, none of the leaders from the government visited him.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut described the police action against Wangchuk as sheer authoritarianism.

“This reflects the Modi government’s dictatorial attitude. The government failed to resolve the core issues for which Sonam Wangchuk was fasting for 20 days, and then, when it found things difficult to handle, it forcibly moved Wangchuk to the hospital,” Raut said.

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“All this was done,” claimed Raut, “to deliberately divert public attention from the Shiv Sena’s ‘Ram Raksha’ protest against the alleged corruption in handling Ram Mandir funds in Ayodhya.”

Criticising Raut, BJP leader Chitra Wagholi said, “He cannot even recite four lines of the Ram Raksha (prayer) properly himself, but politics in the name of protest is in full swing. Most likely, these baseless allegations have started out of the fear that he might actually be asked to recite the ‘Ram Raksha’.”

Activists deplore government move

Activist Vishwambar Choudhari said, “It has been proven many times that the dictators in power are cowards, but today’s action (against Wangchuk) breaks all records of their cowardice. This stems from the fear that if something were to happen to Sonam Wangchuk, the entire country would turn against them and exile them.

“This is a great victory for Sonam Wangchuk. If it takes 500-700 policemen to handle one man exhausted by a 20-day fast, it proves that the ‘56-inch chest’ does not have the strength of character, but is just filled with empty air,” he added.

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Farmer leader Ravikant Tupkar also attacked the Modi government over the action against Wangchuk. “This is a dangerous attempt to throttle democracy and lead the country toward dictatorship. Forcibly removing and arresting Sonam Wangchuk, who was fasting peacefully, is not just an action against one individual; it is an attack on the constitutional right to protest and freedom of expression.”

Meanwhile, actor Shweta Tiwari said in a social media post, “Sonam Wangchuk is fighting for a real cause. This fight is for students’ education and their future. I feel the government should listen to him seriously and pay attention to his demands. I do not agree with the ‘Cockroach Janata Party’ (CJP) at all. I feel that the Cockroach Janata Party is using Sonam Wangchuk for its own political agenda. I do not support this. I only support Sonam Wangchuk and his objectives.”

Reaction from CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke’s family

“What the government did by picking up Sonam Wangchuk is wrong. I only want to tell the government to listen to the children,” said Abhijeet Dipke’s mother.

Abhijeet Dipke’s father, Bhagwanrao Dipke, said, “They were protesting through democratic means. There was no violence there. The people were on their side. The government did not need to pick up Sonam Wangchuk so suddenly. The government should have sent representatives to talk to him. This is dictatorship, right? Wangchuk is a great scientist. He sat on a hunger strike thinking about the country. He supported students’ education. The government thought that by picking up Wangchuk, this protest would end. The government wants to crush this protest.”