"Awakened the conscience of nation": Tharoor urges Wangchuk to end hunger strike

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday issued an emotional open letter appealing to activist Sonam Wangchuk to end his 18-day indefinite hunger strike. Tharoor emphasized that the ongoing protest had already successfully awakened the conscience of the nation regarding the critical issues facing students. With the upcoming parliamentary session scheduled to reconvene on Monday, the lawmaker urged that the fight should now transition to the floor of Parliament, where elected representatives can formally raise these grievances in the highest forum of democracy.

Wangchuk has persisted with his fast despite experiencing significant muscle loss, immense physical pain, and a total weight loss of 8.5 kilograms. The escalating health crisis prompted a petition before the Delhi High Court seeking judicial intervention to force-feed the activist, amid warnings that he could face fatal consequences within two days. Alongside Tharoor, several prominent political leaders including Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav, Uddhav Thackeray, and Arvind Kejriwal, as well as veteran actor Zeenat Aman, have publicly called for an immediate government dialogue to prevent a tragedy.

Simultaneously at Jantar Mantar, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) marked the 25th day of its separate agitation concerning the NEET examination controversy. The political group unveiled a targeted five-point examination reform charter, claiming that cross-party political support for their systemic education reform demands is growing. In his wider correspondence, Tharoor strongly extended solidarity to the protesting students nationwide, while cautioning the central government that ignoring paper leaks and broken merit systems directly betrays ordinary, middle-class Indian families.