Wangchuk ends hunger strike as India’s student protests intensify

Sonam Wangchuk ended his 26-day hunger strike on July 23 as India’s youth-led Cockroach Janta Party kept pressing for Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation over alleged exam paper leaks. The move came after a federal minister promised the government would weigh the protesters’ demands, but the confrontation in Delhi had already turned into a test of how far digital-age student anger could push formal politics.

The label at the center of the movement began as an insult. About two months before the July protests, online activists seized on remarks by a top Indian judge comparing unemployed young people to cockroaches, and Abhijeet Dipke helped turn that slur into a rallying identity. Wangchuk himself called himself an “honorary cockroach” as the campaign spread from social media into the street.

What had started online became a physical challenge in New Delhi, where protesters gathered at Jantar Mantar and then tried to march toward Indian parliament. On July 20, more than 10,000 people braved tear gas and baton charges, and on July 21 thousands more marched despite police bans; clashes injured 180 people. The movement’s demands stayed focused on alleged exam paper leaks, wider accountability in India’s education system, and Pradhan’s removal.

Police moved him to hospital against his will on July 18 after 20 days of fasting, and his wife later asked a court to transfer him to a private hospital.