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I’ve been watching Sonam Wangchuk’s hunger strike in Delhi this week as he, alongside the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), tries to draw attention to the need for educational reforms in India. As a journalist, what I find most striking is the selective silence on the protest from India’s mainstream media, matching its approach to so many other issues that the country’s ruling BJP government wants to keep from public attention – electoral bonds, uncomfortable revelations around the Adani Group, allegations of corruption by the management of the Ram Mandir and more.
It’s not just a servile media that’s taking pains to play down what should be one of the biggest issues in the country at the moment. Many on social media have been asking why the Bollywood star Aamir Khan isn’t speaking up in support of Wangchuk (when one of his biggest hits, the 2009 blockbuster ‘3 Idiots’, is widely understood to have taken inspiration from Wangchuk and his activism in Ladakh.) Khan, a frequent target of the BJP and trolls linked to the Hindu Right, felt the need to deny this, and has said only that everyone is concerned for Wangchuk’s health. The wider implications of the CJP’s emergence and Wangchuk’s continued resistance, both tracing back to larger currents of discontent against the BJP’s politics, are off the agenda as well.
I’m focussing on Wangchuk this week to make sure that here, at least, the story gets the attention it deserves. Scroll on to the News Dive to read more about the hunger strike and growing concerns over Wangchuk’s deteriorating condition.
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Raisa Wickrematunge Senior Editor Himal Southasian |
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Here’s what Himal published this week:
POLITICS
The Hindu nationalist remaking of transgender identity in India
Hritik Lalan writes on India’s new transgender law and the co-option of some trans activists into the Hindu nationalist project.
BOOKS
A Gujarati Dalit writer reckons with Gandhi’s fraught legacy
A excerpt from the Gujarati Dalit writer Chandu Maheria’s memoir, translated by Hemang Ashwinkumar, which reflects on Mohandas Gandhi’s place in Dalit life and political thought – defying the often black-and-white understanding that prevails of Gandhi’s legacy on caste.
We’re excited about the the inaugural Colombo Literary Festival taking place in Sri Lanka from 24 to 29 July. Two Himal editors – Raisa Wickrematunge and Shwetha Srikanthan – will be there. If you’re in Colombo too, drop by and say hello!
Here’s what happened in Southasia this week:
NEWS DIVE
Pressure grows on Modi, BJP to respond to Wangchuk hunger strike
On 28 June, the activist Sonam Wangchuk began a hunger strike in Delhi alongside the newly formed Cockroach Janta Party, calling for the resignation of the education minister over the leak of medical entrance exam papers and demanding broader educational reforms. Weeks later, Wangchuk’s health continues to deteriorate, and the CJP has announced a one-day mass hunger strike in solidarity. Wangchuk has refused to end his fast until the government meaningfully engages with the protesters.
While a number of opposition politicians have voiced support for Wangchuk or visited the protest site at Jantar Mantar, mainstream media coverage has been muted at best. The BJP, including the education minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, has been dismissive of the CJP.
The CJP has released a five-point manifesto that proposed compensation for students impacted by delayed exams, mandatory rescheduling of cancelled exams, and technology and tender audits before examinations, among other things. This has not seen much public discussion. There has also been little to no discussion of Wangchuk’s work in educational reform through community-building and localisation, or his pioneering work on experiential learning in Ladakh, which included his founding of the Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh and grassroots initiatives that have led to better outcomes for young students. The hunger strike has increased the pressure on India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, to respond, and Wangchuk’s increasingly precarious health is fuelling an upswell in support for him.
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ELSEWHERE IN SOUTHASIA
- Ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina says she plans to return to Bangladesh in December despite death sentence to challenge ban on Awami League, state minister of foreign affairs says she would be arrested upon return
- Association of Southeast Asian Nations holds talks with Myanmar’s foreign ministers, anti-junta groups despite junta being barred from top-level meetings over failure to comply with Five Point Consensus
- Nepal lawmakers flag blocking of media houses, political opposition leaders’ residences by vehicles allegedly traced to ruling Rashtriya Swatantra Party, claim distraction from controversy around 25-year-old ride-sharing driver’s death after parking violation, repeated fines
- Landmark UK-India economic and trade agreement comes into effect, giving Indian exporters duty-free access to British tariff lines and the UK wider access to Indian markets through phased tariff cuts, quotas
- Biopic on Sikh rights activist from Punjab Jaswant Singh Khalra and his 1995 killing titled ‘Satluj’ abruptly pulled from OTT platform Zee5 sparking debate on his legacy, online and community screenings
- One Indian sailor killed, eight wounded in Iranian missile strikes in the Strait of Hormuz
- New report notes 409 skeletal remains unearthed in Chemmani, northern Sri Lanka as of June 2026, calls on Sri Lankan government to ensure ‘independent, thorough and impartial’ investigations
- Nine people killed in clashes in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on 14 July, stalling protest march to Muzaffarabad over reserved legislative seats to Hindu refugees
- 86 percent of cases including murder, attempted murder after July Uprising protests in Bangladesh still incomplete two years later, new report finds
- Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka flags denial of access to Welikada prison in Colombo, raises concerns about torture and ill-treatment of transferred inmates after Negombo prison riot, prison officials claim ‘unstable security situation’ inside prison led them to deny entry
- Rising number of girls in Afghanistan being sold into child marriage to settle debts after decree setting minimum age lifted earlier this year
FROM THE ARCHIVE
Revisit stories from Himal’s archive that add more context to this week’s news updates from Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Ingrid Massagé
Justin Shilad
Rakesh Ankit
Cyrus Naji
SNAP SOUTHASIA
