Sonam Wangchuk Protest: Timeline of the Hunger Strike
Nineteen days into an indefinite fast at Jantar Mantar, the Ladakhi engineer-activist has lost around 9 kilograms and shows no sign of stopping. Here is how the protest built up, what it demands, and where it heads next.
Compiled from live news data by NewzAI · July 16, 2026
Nineteen days without food
Sonam Wangchuk, the 59-year-old Ladakhi engineer, education reformer and climate activist who inspired Aamir Khan's Phunsukh Wangdu in 3 Idiots, has been on an indefinite hunger strike at Delhi's Jantar Mantar since June 28. By July 16, the fast had entered its 19th day, with Wangchuk reporting a weight loss of around 9 kilograms. Concerns over his health have revived memories of environmentalist G.D. Agrawal, who died in 2018 after a 111-day fast to save the Ganga. Read on NewzAI →
Doctors monitoring him have flagged a "critical stage," but Wangchuk has refused to stop. "My condition is not such that I will die in two-four days. The test results are quite normal for an 18-day fast. Yes, I am weak and my muscles are wasting away, but my heart and core are still functioning well," he said in a video message. Read on NewzAI →
The precursor: how a leaked exam paper became a protest
The protest traces back to May 3, 2026, when NEET-UG — India's national medical entrance exam — was held for lakhs of aspirants. Within days, allegations surfaced that the question paper had been leaked before the test. The Centre ordered a CBI probe, which made several arrests, and the National Testing Agency (NTA) took the unprecedented step of scrapping the exam entirely rather than trying to patch it. A re-test was set for June 21. Read on NewzAI →
Image credit: News18
On June 21, roughly 22 lakh students sat the re-exam under heavy security across 5,440 centres in 551 Indian cities and 14 overseas locations — a scale of disruption that, on its own, would have made the leak a major story. What turned it into a sustained street protest was the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), a youth-led satirical outfit founded by Abhijeet Dipke. Days after returning from Boston, Dipke led CJP's first demonstration at Jantar Mantar on June 6, demanding Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation. An FIR accusing CJP of "anti-national activities" and foreign funding was lodged the same day. Read on NewzAI →
CJP kept up the pressure through June, taking protests to six cities — Dipke met the father of a NEET aspirant who died by suicide after the leak, in Nagpur — before establishing a continuous sit-in back at Jantar Mantar from June 20. Pradhan did not resign; by early July he had dismissed the protesters as "the B-team of disruptive elements" who "do not have faith in the country's progress." It was into this standoff that Sonam Wangchuk stepped on June 28, turning a youth protest movement into a story about one man's health. Read on NewzAI →
The full timeline
From the original exam to the planned Parliament march — every major turn across 11 weeks.
NEET-UG 2026 is held nationwide for lakhs of aspirants. Allegations of a leaked question paper surface almost immediately.
The Centre orders a CBI probe; several arrests follow. The NTA cancels the May 3 exam outright and schedules a re-test for June 21.
Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) founder Abhijeet Dipke, just back from Boston, leads CJP's first Jantar Mantar demonstration demanding Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation. An FIR alleging “anti-national activities” and foreign funding follows the same day.
Dipke meets the father of a NEET aspirant who died by suicide after the leak, as CJP chapters protest in Nagpur and other cities.
CJP starts a continuous sit-in at Jantar Mantar, demanding Pradhan's resignation over the paper leak and alleged CBSE marking irregularities.
22 lakh students retake NEET-UG under heavy security at 5,440 centres across 551 cities and 14 countries.
Sonam Wangchuk visits Rajghat with Dipke, then begins an indefinite hunger strike at the protest site.
CJP alleges Delhi Police denied a portable toilet for Wangchuk and that public toilets at the site had no water.
Wangchuk has lost over 6 kg and his blood pressure is low, Dipke says, publicly asking when the government will “wake up.” Pradhan has by now refused to resign, dismissing CJP as “the B-team of disruptive elements.”
Fellow hunger-striker and AISA activist Deepak, fasting since June 28, is hospitalised at Delhi's RML Hospital.
Blood pressure 107/70, glucose 67 mg/dL, ~8 kg lost. Uddhav Thackeray calls Dipke to express concern; 1,800+ artists and academics issue a joint appeal.
Weight loss nears 9 kg. A PIL seeking medical intervention is before the Delhi High Court; Arvind Kejriwal visits the site.
CJP's “Chalo Sansad” march to Parliament, timed to the Monsoon Session's opening.
Dates and details compiled from News18, Times of India, Hindustan Times, Indian Express, DNA and The Hindu.
Image credit: Hindustan Times
What the protest is demanding
The CJP's core demands are the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET-UG paper leak and alleged CBSE marking irregularities, along with ₹1 crore in compensation for the families of students who allegedly died by suicide in the aftermath. The group has also unveiled a five-point roadmap to overhaul how competitive exams are conducted. Read on NewzAI →
Wangchuk has folded in his own long-running cause: alongside the exam-reform demands, he has continued to press for statehood for Ladakh and its inclusion under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. Read on NewzAI →
Who's rallying behind him
Support has come from across the political spectrum: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav, Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Uddhav and Aaditya Thackeray, and AAP's Arvind Kejriwal have all appealed to Wangchuk — mostly urging him to end the fast while backing the students' demands. From the film world, Imran Khan, Zeenat Aman, Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah, Swara Bhasker, Abhay Deol, Omi Vaidya and Prakash Raj have voiced support, as have writer Arundhati Roy and economists Jayati Ghosh and Jean Drèze. Read on NewzAI →
Image credit: The Indian Express
What has been largely absent, based on the reporting so far, is a direct response from the government itself: none of the coverage points to Dharmendra Pradhan or the Centre opening formal talks with Wangchuk or the CJP. Actor Zeenat Aman put the question bluntly: "Don't ask me to end my fast. Ask the government why they won't even have a dialogue," she quoted Wangchuk as saying, before appealing to the Centre to "open dialogue on this matter that concerns the future of all India." Read on NewzAI →
What to watch
Two things converge on July 20: the opening of Parliament's Monsoon Session and the CJP's planned "Chalo Sansad" march, which Wangchuk has asked supporters to join in his place rather than pressing him to break his fast. "Come in thousands on July 20. Together, we will hand over this issue to the Parliament. Then I will believe that it has gone into the right hands," he said. Whether the government responds before then — and whether Wangchuk's health holds until it does — are the two open questions hanging over the protest. Read on NewzAI →
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