Mumbai, Jul 16 (PTI) Maharashtra’s Opposition figures came out in support of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and urged him to end his indefinite fast which entered the 19th day on Thursday as they slammed the Centre for not resolving issue of exam irregularities and failing to reach out to him.
Wangchuk, also an education reformer, joined the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP)’s protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on June 28 and has been on an indefinite hunger strike since then against examination irregularities and to demand resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Accusing the Union government of failing to accept responsibility for repeated examination paper leaks, NCP (SP) leader Jayant Patil urged Wangchuk (59) to end his indefinite hunger strike.
Describing the Ladakh-based activist as “a national asset”, the former Maharashtra minister said he should not be forced to risk his life because of the government’s refusal to act responsibly.
In a post on X, Patil asserted Wangchuk’s “modest demand” was that the minister concerned accept moral responsibility and resign over repeated examination paper leaks, which had jeopardised the future of countless young people across the country.
Patil claimed the present government was unwilling to accept either moral or actual responsibility for such serious failures.
“I sincerely appeal to him to withdraw his indefinite hunger strike and preserve his health and life,” the Opposition MLA said in the post.
Wangchuk’s weight loss crossed 9 kilograms on the 19th day of his hunger strike, with doctors warning he had entered a critical stage and that the prolonged fast could begin affecting his organs.
Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal said issues raised by the climate activist were similar to those being highlighted by his party through nationwide protests.
The Congress had consistently raised the issue of the alleged NEET paper leak and demanded the resignation of Education Minister Pradhan, he said.
Sapkal said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s “Chhatron Ki Goonj” (Voice of Students) campaign, which began in Kota, Rajasthan, would hold its next programme in Dehradun on July 17.
This campaign focuses on issues affecting students, including examination irregularities and the broader condition of the education system.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray also voiced support for Wangchuk’s demands, and alleged the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government at the Centre seemed to have decided to get rid of him as well as the “space for protest in the country”.
Transparency is essential not only in medical entrance test NEET, but in all examinations, Thackeray said in a social media post, and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to pay attention to the issue.
The controversy related to the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) was no trivial matter and the irregularities have jeopardised the future of lakhs of students, he noted.
“The reports regarding his (Wangchuk’s) health and the visuals on television are certainly alarming. It is deeply distressing to say this, but it appears the government has decided to get rid of Sonam Wangchuk, and by extension, the very space for protest in this country,” Thackeray said.
The NEET paper leak was not an isolated incident as such things had occurred in the past too, the MNS chief said.
During the BJP’s tenure, irregularities in examinations have been rampant, he alleged, citing the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh and the latest leak of teacher eligibility test papers in Maharashtra.
BJP supporters, too, must have suffered due to such incidents, and therefore it was a sign of the ruling party’s shortsightedness that it was viewing the agitation at Jantar Mantar through a political lens, the MNS leader maintained.
The institutions that are supposed to function independently are being captured and elections are being manipulated to suit specific agendas, the MNS chief alleged in the post, adding the mainstream media by and large was failing to question the source of the huge amounts of money being spent for this.
He noted there was a time when the BJP held Wangchuk in high regard and added the saffron party values an individual as long as it suits its purposes.
When Wangchuk demanded statehood for Ladakh, two Lok Sabha constituencies in the Union Territory and the protection of local people’s land rights, the Centre took no action, Thackeray said.
Talking to reporters in Nagpur, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut expressed concern over the health of Wangchuk.
“His health is deteriorating, and it should be an issue of grave concern for everyone,” he added. PTI MR PR CLS GK BNM KRK NP RSY
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.