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Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk on Sunday began a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar, where the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) has been holding a protest since June 20, seeking the resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged irregularities in examinations.
Hundreds of protesters, mostly youth and students, gathered at Jantar Mantar as Wangchuk began his fast. Several farmer leaders were also present at the protest site. The protest began with a two-minute silence.
Before starting the hunger strike, Wangchuk and CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke visited Rajghat and paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi.
Dipke has in the past appealed to farmers, students and organisations to join the protest and support the call for accountability over alleged irregularities in the examination system, including medical entrance test NEET.
On Sunday morning, he said on X that several farmers' leaders from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab were being placed under house arrest to prevent them from reaching Jantar Mantar.
The CJP had started its protest at Jantar Mantar on June 20, demanding the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
During the course of the protest, CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke had alleged that the issue was not limited to a single examination but reflected wider concerns over transparency and trust in the education system.
On Saturday, he alleged that the Maharashtra TET paper leak where the exam was cancelled just a day before it was scheduled to happen, once again showed the government's failure in ensuring the integrity of competitive examinations as he pressed for the resignation of education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
"First NEET, now Maharashtra TET exam got leaked and called off at the last minute. Students and teachers have been screaming about TET scams since 2017, but the authorities would rather push our youth into a dead end than fix the system," he said.
The protest has also seen participation from students and civil society members.
