NEW DELHI: Activist Sonam Wangchuk, in a letter to Union ministers J P Nadda and Jitendra Singh, said Wednesday he was willing to end his 25-day indefinite hunger strike if the Centre gave an “unequivocal assurance” that none of the young protesters who participated in Monday’s Sansad Chalo march would face punitive action. Wangchuk also said the ministers had assured him that the govt would hold a meaningful discussion in Parliament to ensure accountability, including consideration of the resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.Meanwhile, CJP, which has been insisting on Pradhan’s resignation and Rs 1 crore compensation for families of NEET aspirants who died by suicide, added two more demands — no peaceful protesters be prosecuted and all police officials involved in the violence be prosecuted.CJP spokesperson Saurav Das said it had rejected a fresh invitation from Nadda for talks at his residence, insisting that any dialogue with the govt be held publicly at Jantar Mantar.Your sacrifice inspired a generation: CJP to WangchukWangchuk repeated his demand in a video message in the evening from his hospital bed. “If I receive that assurance, I will honour all these appeals and end my fast today itself.”Sharing an open letter to Wangchuk on social media, CJP said, “Your sacrifice has inspired a generation. We respectfully request you to end your fast and take care of your health. We promise that the fight for examination justice will continue with even greater strength until our demands are met. We will carry this movement forward.”Seeking to prevent what it described as attempts to malign the agitation, the outfit appealed to protesters to raise only four slogans —“Bharat Mata Ki Jai”, “Inquilab Zindabad”, “Jai Bheem” and “Dharmendra Pradhan Istifa Do”.“A janata darbar is being held at Jantar Mantar. If ministers want to talk, they must come to the people. We are not going to anyone’s closed doors or private homes. If security is a concern, we are open to a neutral venue near Jantar Mantar. But the govt must show genuine intent to accept our demands, not waste our time with meaningless photoops,” the organisation said.The outfit alleged that during an earlier invitation for talks, its representatives were kept waiting for hours while police action was carried out against protesters outside, describing the episode as a “trap”.Meanwhile, wrestler Bajrang Punia also joined the protest Wednesday evening.CJP flagged that Delhi Police had removed a baggage-scanning machine from one of the entry points at Jantar Mantar, forcing student volunteers to manually check bags and raising concerns over security arrangements at the protest site. CJP asserted that the movement would continue until its demands were met.In his video message later, Wangchuk said, “Namaskar, friends. I am still alive. Today is the 25th day of my hunger strike. I have lost around 11 kg and have begun losing muscle mass, but I am otherwise doing fine.”“I want to congratulate all the students who endured police batons with remarkable restraint. Despite repeated provocation, and despite attempts by some elements to incite violence by pelting stones, they remained peaceful and did not retaliate. It deeply moved me.”“But I urge the govt not to use force against students anymore. Secondly, I need an assurance that no FIRs will be lodged against them and that no allegations will be used to harass them later. If I receive that assurance, I will honour all these appeals and end my fast today itself. But if I do not receive that assurance, unfortunately, I will have to continue my hunger strike” “Many leaders have come to me urging me to end my fast, including ministers from the ruling party. Sixty-five MPs have also written to me, and several have personally appealed to me to end the fast and return to serving the nation. I, too, want to do that. My work is very important to me.“But I urge the govt not to use force against students anymore. Secondly, I need an assurance that no FIRs will be lodged against them and that no allegations will be used to harass them later.”Health minister J P Nadda said he has appealed to activist Sonam Wangchuk to call off his hunger strike and lead protesting students in the right direction. “Govt is open to talks on every issue. He said he will respond. He has written an open letter and we will reply so that talks can move ahead,” Nadda told reporters.MPs Vivek Tankha, John Brittas and Sagarika Ghose met Wangchuk at Medanta, where they held a long discussion on the future course of action. Tankha also gave Wangchuk a letter from several MPs urging him to end his fast.According to sources, Wangchuk is emphatic that there should be no action on the youngsters. He suspects that any decision to end the fast prematurely would leave the protesters vulnerable to police vendetta.
