More than 1,800 members of civil society on Tuesday urged activist Sonam Wangchuk to withdraw his hunger strike in Delhi.
Wangchuk’s fast is part of the protest by the political campaign Cockroach Janta Party to demand the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on account of alleged mismanagement in conducting competitive exams.
In an open letter, the signatories, who include academics, artists and activists, said that while they support those on hunger strike, they were also concerned about the protesters’ health.
Wangchuk had begun the hunger strike at Jantar Mantar on June 28.
Abhijeet Dipke, who founded the campaign, said on Tuesday that after 17 days of the hunger strike, Wangchuk had started losing muscle mass and was in “immense pain”.
Dipke added that he had “begged him to end his fast”. He quoted Wangchuk as having asked in response why the Union government was not willing to hold a dialogue with the protesters.
In their letter, the signatories said that they were appealing for an end to the hunger strike because the Union government “does not have a heart or a conscience”.
The signatories include actors Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah, author Arundhati Roy, academics Nivedita Menon and Jean Drèze, and activists Lalita Ramdas and Kavita Srivastava.
They said that “we have seen time again…
