Sonam Wangchuk’s hunger strike deepens India exam leak protests

Sonam Wangchuk was lying on a white mattress on a stage in central New Delhi on Tuesday, too weak to speak normally, as his hunger strike entered its 17th day and his condition worsened. The education reformer had lost 8.5 kilograms, and a young protester at the site had already fainted and been taken to hospital, turning the protest into both a political confrontation and a health emergency.

The fast grew out of a sit-in at Jantar Mantar that began on June 20, 2026, after leaks and irregularities in the NEET-UG examination process ignited anger among students who see the paper scandal as a threat to any fair path into higher education and public employment. Wangchuk began his own hunger strike on June 28, 2026, after saying he would fast if Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan did not step down. The Union government ordered a NEET-UG re-exam on June 21, 2026, and the Supreme Court heard petitions over the controversy in late May, after Pradhan publicly acknowledged a breach in the exam security chain.

The protest has widened well beyond the original sit-in. The Cockroach Janta Party said it had gained 22 million followers within days of being formed in May, giving the movement a social-media reach that far exceeded the handful of tents and bodies gathered near Parliament. Students, youth, farmers and khap leaders have joined in solidarity, while protesters alleged that Delhi Police cut off water and sanitation facilities at Jantar Mantar after Wangchuk joined the fast. The Delhi High Court also ordered the unblocking of the party’s X account after the government argued its posts could create chaos among students.

The political stakes have climbed with each day of the strike. Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal urged Wangchuk to end the fast and said he would visit Jantar Mantar on July 16, while Akhilesh Yadav, Uddhav Thackeray, Zeenat Aman, Arundhati Roy and Naseeruddin Shah were among public figures to back dialogue and warn about Wangchuk’s health. For Modi’s government, the episode has become a test of exam integrity and state credibility: a technical scandal over leaked papers has evolved into a broader anti-corruption backlash, with Wangchuk’s weakening body now at the center of India’s anger over who gets access to scarce opportunities and who answers when the system fails.