Hindus for Human Rights Urges Modi Government to Act as Sonam Wangchuk and Student Hunger Strike Deepens
July 14, 2026
India Must Listen Before a Life Is Lost: Sonam Wangchuk and Students Fast in a Moral Appeal to the Nation
An Open Letter to the Government of India Concerning the Hunger Strike at Jantar Mantar
Addressed to
The Honorable Narendra Modi Prime Minister of India Prime Minister’s Office Seva Teerth New Delhi – 110011
The Honorable Dharmendra Pradhan Union Minister of Education Ministry of Education Shastri Bhawan Dr. Rajendra Prasad Road New Delhi – 110001 Email: d.pradhan@mpls.sansad.in
Dr. Vineet Joshi Secretary, Department of Higher Education Ministry of Education Room 127-C, Shastri Bhawan New Delhi – 110001 Email: secy.dhe@nic.in
Dear Prime Minister Modi, Minister Pradhan, and concerned authorities,
Hindus for Human Rights writes with profound concern for Sonam Wangchuk and the students participating in the ongoing hunger strike at Jantar Mantar.
As of July 14, Wangchuk’s fast had entered its seventeenth day. Organizers reported that he had lost approximately 8.5 kilograms and was experiencing severe physical deterioration. At least three student activists had reportedly been hospitalized, including one student treated for hypovolemic shock. Other participants are placing their health at growing risk
Whatever differing views may exist about the organizations involved, the methods of protest, or the demand for the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, we are guided by a basic principle:
The protesters have raised serious concerns about examination irregularities, educational governance, institutional accountability, and the consequences suffered by students when public systems fail. These concerns affect millions of young people and families across India and cannot be answered through silence.
As a Hindu human rights organization, we recognize that fasting has long held spiritual significance across Hindu traditions. It can be a practice of discipline, reflection, prayer, repentance, and moral witness. At its best, fasting is not a glorification of suffering but an attempt to awaken the conscience—both of the person undertaking it and of the wider community.
In India, fasting has long functioned as a political appeal to conscience when ordinary mechanisms of representation and redress have failed. Its force lies in compelling public institutions to acknowledge unresolved grievances, prevent further harm, and engage in good-faith dialogue.
The government may reject the demand for the Education Minister’s resignation, but it cannot use that disagreement to justify institutional silence. This protest is part of a wider pattern in which students, job aspirants, and other young people seeking accountability for examination and recruitment failures have put their bodies on the line, facing lathi charges and detention at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan, water cannons in Jaipur, and baton charges and detentions during NEET protess in Kurukshetra. The government must meet with the protesters, provide a substantive response to the examination and governance failures they have identified, and establish a credible, time-bound process for accountability.
“As Hindus, we are taught that dharma demands courage in the face of injustice and care for those whose lives are at risk. A hunger strike is not a spectacle—it is what remains when every ordinary avenue has failed and power still refuses to listen. If people must starve before the government will hear them, that silence is itself an injustice. The government must meet the protesters now, answer the failures that brought them here, and act before indifference takes a life.” — Sunita Viswanath, Executive Director, Hindus for Human Rights
The Government of India should not wait until a medical emergency—or a preventable death—forces it to engage.
We therefore call upon the Government of India, the Union Ministry of Education, and the responsible Delhi authorities to:
Send an authorized representative to meet with the fasting protesters;
Ensure unrestricted access to appropriate medical care;
Provide a transparent public response to the allegations raised by students;
Establish a clear process for addressing examination and recruitment irregularities; and
Protect the right to peaceful protest without harassment or obstruction.
We also appeal to Sonam Wangchuk and the fasting students to place their health and lives as a priority.. Their concerns have been heard by people across India and around the world. They should not be required to sacrifice their health to demonstrate the seriousness of their demands.
It is now the responsibility of the government to respond with urgency, seriousness, and humanity.
Again we say as Hindus committed to human dignity, pluralism, justice, and the protection of life, we believe that spiritual and political traditions are at their best when they awaken responsibility rather than demand suffering. The cost of continued inaction is no longer merely political. It is being measured in deteriorating health and endangered lives.
India’s history has demonstrated the moral power of fasting as an appeal to conscience. We urge the Government of India to honor the best of that history: listen before more harm is done, begin dialogue immediately, and ensure that every participant can end this fast safely and with dignity. Dialogue must begin before irreversible harm occurs.
Sincerely,
Hindus for Human Rights
New York | Washington, DC | London | Sydney www.hindusforhumanrights.org
cc:
The Honorable Amit Shah Union Minister of Home Affairs Ministry of Home Affairs North Block New Delhi – 110001Email: amitshah.mp@mpls.sansad.inPublic Grievances: jscpg-mha@nic.in
The Honorable Rekha Gupta Chief Minister of Delhi Office of the Chief Minister Third Level, Delhi Secretariat I.P. Estate New Delhi – 110002Email: cmdelhi@nic.in
Sardar Taranjit Singh Sandhu Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Lieutenant Governor’s Secretariat Civil Lines Delhi – 110054Email: pstolg.delhi@nic.in
Justice V. Ramasubramanian Chairperson National Human Rights Commission of India Manav Adhikar Bhawan Block C, GPO Complex INA, New Delhi – 110023Email: chairnhrc@nic.inGeneral Correspondence: cr.nhrc@nic.in
Shri Satish Golchha, IPS Commissioner of Police, Delhi Delhi Police Headquarters Jai Singh Road New Delhi – 110001Email: cpdelhi@delhipolice.gov.inGeneral Service Email: delpol.service@delhipolice.gov.in
Press contact: Faria Rehman, Campaigns & Press Relations Manager
faria@hindusforhumanrights.org
Hindus for Human Rights is a faith-based organization committed to pluralism, civil and human rights, social justice, and the dignity of people of every faith and background.