Wangchuk's Wife Questions Police Presence at Hospital
If the Court has clarified that he is not under detention, then under what authority is this happening? she said
NEW DELHI: Gitanjali J. Angmo, wife of activist Sonam Wangchuk, on Saturday questioned the presence of police personnel at Medanta Hospital and outside his ICU, asking under what authority they were restricting access to him if a court had clarified that he was not under detention.
In a post on X, Angmo said police personnel were stationed at multiple locations inside the hospital.
"At both Safdarjung and now Medanta, police are everywhere. At the main gate. The reception. The lifts. Outside @Wangchuk66's ICU. They decide who may or may not meet him," she wrote.
"If the Court has clarified that he is not under detention, then under what authority is this happening? In an enlightened democracy, is the role of the police to protect citizens and uphold the law, or to control citizens on behalf of those in power? These are questions every Indian should be asking," she added.
Wangchuk ended his 26-day hunger strike on Friday after receiving written assurances from the Union government on the NEET examination issue and broader reforms to the country's competitive examination system.
Earlier on Friday, Angmo appealed for compassion towards her husband, saying he had been admitted to the ICU after losing 11 kg during the fast.
"Before you rush to criticise Sonam Wangchuk, first pause to earn the ethos of fasting for 26 days for a cause larger than yourself. He lies in the ICU today, having lost 11 kg, including muscle mass, because he chose sacrifice over comfort," she wrote.
In a video message on Friday, Wangchuk rejected allegations that he had struck a deal with the government to end his fast.
"After 26 days of fasting for the sake of students... do I have to seek a character certificate from anyone about how sacred my fast was, about whose hands I broke it at, or whether I made a deal or not?" he said.
He ended the fast in the presence of Union Ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh at Medanta Hospital.
Meanwhile, the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) said its protest would continue until Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigns.
CJP activist Ashutosh Ranka also alleged that Delhi Police were preventing people from delivering food and assisting demonstrators at the protest site at Jantar Mantar.
After a nearly two-hour meeting with Union Ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh on Friday, CJP representatives said the government had sought time until Saturday afternoon to deliberate on their demand for Pradhan's resignation.
