Health fears as frail Indian activist on hunger strike loses 8.2kg
Image: BBC News
"I'm weak from the outside, but I'm strong from inside." Sixteen days into a hunger strike, those words carry real weight.
Sonam Wangchuk, a 59-year-old engineer, climate activist and respected educationist from Ladakh, has been fasting at Delhi's Jantar Mantar protest site since 29 June. According to a health bulletin, he has lost 8.2kg, his blood pressure is 107/70 and his blood sugar has dropped to 67.
Wangchuk is protesting with the Cockroach Janta Party, an online satirical movement demanding education reforms. Their immediate call is the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan after a key medical-entrance exam was cancelled in May following a paper leak.
The deteriorating numbers have alarmed supporters, with thousands urging him to end the fast. Others are striking alongside him; on Wednesday one was hospitalised after a sharp decline. Pradhan has refused to quit, dismissing the protesters as "the B-team of disruptive elements."
Wangchuk says he must "take what I've begun to its logical conclusion." For a figure admired for bridging Himalayan communities and climate activism, the stakes are deeply personal.
As his health falters, pressure is mounting on authorities to respond — but with neither side backing down, the fast has become a tense standoff over India's education system.