Union ministers meet Sonam Wangchuk at Gurugram hospital as hunger strike enters 24th day

New Delhi: Union ministers J.P. Nadda and Jitendra Singh visited innovator and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk at Medanta Hospital in Gurugram on Tuesday night, shortly after he was transferred there from Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital for further treatment.

Wangchuk, who is on an indefinite hunger strike that entered its 24th day on Tuesday, was discharged from Safdarjung earlier in the evening and taken to Medanta by ambulance under tight security, following a Delhi High Court order. Hospital officials said he was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and is under the care of Dr. Sushila Kataria, an internal medicine specialist.

The meeting follows Wangchuk’s public insistence that he will continue fasting until protesting student leaders are allowed to meet Members of Parliament at Parliament House, or until MPs visit him at the hospital. In a handwritten note from Safdarjung on Monday, he reiterated those demands.

Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali J. Angmo, said on Tuesday he would continue the fast until Parliament addresses alleged police action against protesters during the ‘Sansad Chalo’ march. She alleged that students were beaten, lathi-charged and tear-gassed, and said Wangchuk’s fast is an act of solidarity until their grievances are heard in Parliament.

Responding to claims that some agitators attacked police personnel, Angmo described her own experience during the march: "I was in the truck, when the police entered and forcefully tried to take Abhijit too. Around me, everyone made a human chain and protected me. If this was happening to me when I was behind that truck, then whatever happened with students — we have all seen it."