Hundreds of people, most of them students, gathered at Bengaluru’s Freedom Park on Sunday to back climate and education activist Sonam Wangchuk, linking his ongoing hunger strike with demands for accountability over the NEET paper leak and the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
The demonstration was held in solidarity with the protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, where the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has been staging an agitation over alleged failures in the conduct of the national medical entrance examination. The Bengaluru gathering came a day after police removed Wangchuk from the protest site and shifted him to a government hospital during the 21st day of his indefinite fast.
Actor Kishore joined the demonstration and urged people to be more discerning while exercising their right to vote, arguing that public participation was central to preserving democratic institutions. “Democracy doesn’t die because of dictators but because of unresponsive citizens. Government arrogance comes because we vote blindly,” he told the gathering.
Asked whether Wangchuk’s removal could strengthen the campaign, Kishore said the action could widen public participation even though it was damaging for democratic practice. “It is not good for democracy. But it is good for the whole movement, which can now attract more people and, in turn, strengthen the demand for accountability,” he said.
