NEW DELHI: Hours after climate activist Sonam Wangchuk was shifted to Safdarjung Hospital by Delhi Police on the 21st day of his indefinite hunger strike on Saturday morning, the agitation at Jantar Mantar continued with CJP founder Abhijit Dipke taking over the fast and three AISA student activists remaining on indefinite hunger strike.Several other protesters also joined the fast, while organisers asserted that the planned July 20 march to Parliament would go ahead.Dipke began his indefinite hunger strike immediately after Wangchuk was taken away by police around 7 am. He broke down in tears at the Jantar Mantar protest site following Wangchuk’s removal by the Delhi Police.The three AISA activists—Neha (JNU Phd scholar), Ameen Amitoj (AUD Phd scholar) and Manish Kumar (Phd scholar from Allahabad University)—have been on hunger strike since Wangchuk began his fast 21 days ago.According to the organisers, Neha has lost 7.5 kg, Ameen 9.5 kg and Manish 10.5 kg during the fast.Addressing protesters from the stage where Wangchuk had been seated, Dipke alleged that Wangchuk was taken away forcibly without his or his family’s consent.He said, “They say I am a national security threat. I am not. I am a citizen.” He appealed to people across the country to “make Jantar Mantar in every city” by holding peaceful protests with photographs of Mahatma Gandhi and Sonam Wangchuk.“We have been told that we too may be picked up. But we will not be afraid,” Dipke said, urging people to join the movement. Protesters also raised slogans demanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s resignation.Videos circulating on social media purportedly showed men in plain clothes entering the protest site, covering Wangchuk with a white sheet and taking him to an ambulance.Delhi Police, however, said Wangchuk was shifted “as per orders of Hon’ble High Court and on expert medical advice due to the deteriorating health condition” of the activist.In a post on X, the police said some protesters tried to obstruct the exercise, leading to a “slight commotion”, but added that officers exercised “maximum restraint” while shifting him safely.The police also appealed to protesters to peacefully vacate Jantar Mantar.Meanwhile, Wangchuk’s wife, who said she was at Safdarjung Hospital, posted on X that no treatment should be administered to him “orally or intravenously” without the consent of his family and the doctors who have been monitoring his health over the past 20 days.The developments come a day ahead of the protesters’ proposed Sansad March on July 20. A CJP spokesperson appealed to supporters to reach Jantar Mantar and said the march to Parliament would go ahead as planned.
