New Delhi: Climate activist and educationist Sonam Wangchuk was taken from Jantar Mantar to Safdarjung Hospital on Saturday morning after his prolonged hunger strike entered its 21st day, triggering a tense confrontation between police, protesters, and his family over whether the move was a necessary medical intervention or a forced removal.
The Delhi Police said Wangchuk was shifted “for essential medical care” after his health deteriorated and on the advice of medical experts, citing directions of the Delhi High Court. A police statement, as carried in multiple reports, said the move was made in compliance with the court order and that the activist would remain under medical supervision in a government hospital.
But the scene at Jantar Mantar told a story of anxiety, anger and mistrust. Supporters said Wangchuk was taken away against his will, describing the operation as a crackdown rather than a health precaution. Reports from the protest site said police presence was heavy, and the transfer unfolded amid heated exchanges as the activist was escorted out after nearly three weeks without solid food.
Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali J Angmo, sharply disputed the police version. She said the Delhi High Court had not ordered hospitalisation, but only regular monitoring of his health, and argued that the family had not been given medical reports on his condition. She also said his fasting had not ended and that he was still taking only salted water, while insisting that no treatment should be given without consent from her and the doctors who had been following him during the strike.
The dispute over the court order sits at the heart of the controversy. According to reports, the Delhi High Court had directed daily clinical monitoring of Wangchuk’s health and said necessary medical steps should be taken if required, observing that the life of every citizen is precious. Police interpreted that mandate, along with medical advice, as sufficient ground to move him to hospital when his condition worsened. His family says that interpretation overreaches the order’s language.
Medical details reported from the hospital added urgency to the decision. Sources said doctors found signs of deterioration after 20 days without solid food, including dehydration, low potassium levels, metabolic imbalance and rising ketone levels. One hospital statement, carried by television coverage, said Wangchuk was weak due to prolonged fasting and dehydration, though stable on admission and in need of continuous observation and treatment to restore his body parameters.
That medical caution collided with the language of protest. For many of Wangchuk’s supporters, the issue is not only his health, but the right to dissent without coercion. The move from the sit-in to the hospital was seen by them as an attempt to break the moral force of a fast that had become a symbol of pressure, endurance and public grievance. Opposition leaders also attacked the government, calling the removal a black stain on democracy and criticising the handling of the protest.
The protest had been building for days around Jantar Mantar, where Wangchuk had been on an indefinite fast since June 28, according to one report, or for 20 days by the time he was shifted. The scale of the police operation suggested that authorities expected resistance: reports described a pre-planned overnight deployment, plainclothes personnel and a carefully coordinated transfer from the protest site. Another report said he was moved with heavy police presence to Safdarjung Hospital, though some outlets mentioned RML Hospital in early coverage.
At the centre of the emotional uproar is a familiar and painful question in public protests: when does protection become compulsion? The police say they acted to save a weakening man from further harm. Protesters and family members say a citizen in a democracy should not be carried away under the cover of medical concern without transparent consent and clear legal necessity. Both versions frame themselves as acts of care; both cannot fully comfort the people watching Wangchuk’s frail, fasting body become the battleground.
The episode has now moved from the protest ground to the hospital corridor, but the political and moral questions remain unresolved. Wangchuk’s health will determine the immediate next steps, yet the larger confrontation – between state authority, judicial oversight, and the right to protest — is likely to continue far beyond this one transfer.
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