Dimple Yadav of the Samajwadi Party described the removal of Sonam Wangchuk from the Jantar Mantar protest site as an attack on democracy and the Constitution.
When the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) accused the Delhi Police of using force and coercion on protesters and “forcibly” forcing activist Sonam Wangchuk from his hunger strike site at Jantar Mantar, the opposition rained fire on the government.
Wangchuk, who has been on a hunger strike for 21 days in support of protests against the Centre’s handling of screening irregularities, was allegedly admitted to Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi on Saturday morning. But the police justified the action citing Delhi High Court orders related to Wangchuk’s deteriorating health and denied using any force against the protesters. Follow live updates on CJP protest
Many opposition leaders threw their weight behind the uproar, describing the police action as an assault on democracy.
Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Dimple Yadav described the forceful “removal” of Wangchuk as an “attack on democracy and the Constitution”.
“The BJP government can no longer tolerate even peaceful protests – this is tyranny,” she wrote in a post on X.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal said the government should have held talks with Wangchuk instead of forcefully removing him. He wrote on the
Aam Aadmi Party’s Saurabh Bhardwaj alleged that Delhi Police used dozens of white bedsheets to block cameras so that the rough handling of Wangchuk was not recorded. “Shame on Jantar Mantar Goons of the Modi government Delhi. The policemen wore plain clothes and sneakers and forcefully entered the protest site. They brought dozens of white bedsheets to block the camera view so that any violence/man’s interaction with Sonam Wangchuk and others would not be recorded on video,” he wrote.
The Aam Aadmi Party accused the government of resorting to force and bullying. “Instead of choosing the path of dialogue to end Sonam Wangchuk Ji’s ongoing peaceful fast against the newspaper leak, the government has resorted to force and bullying,” the Arvind Kejriwal-led party wrote on its official handle X.
Anand Gawande of the Nationalist Congress Party (SP) said Wangchuk’s removal from the protest site was to “shut down a democratic protest”.
“If this government had cared about the protesters, it would not have let GD Agarwal die. If this government had cared about the protesters, it would have opened a dialogue with hundreds of people who are still sitting at Jantar Mantar,” he said and added that the CJP’s Parliament rally on July 20 should go as per schedule.
Lawyer Prashant Bhushan accused the Delhi Police of taking action against Wangchuk at the request of the government. “As expected, the Delhi Police, undoubtedly on the instructions of the government, went to the protest site at Jantar Mantar, forcefully arrested Sonam Wangchuk and are forcibly removing the protesters from there,” Bhushan wrote on X.
Debke says the police beat him
When Wangchuk was taken away from Jantar Mantar, CJP founder Abhijit Debke said he was beaten and taken into custody by Delhi Police. “I was beaten and detained by Delhi Police,” Debki wrote on X. In another post, he alleged that police were suppressing CJP protest at Jantar Mantar and people were being beaten there.
Debke later announced an indefinite hunger strike.
Meanwhile, Wangchuk’s wife said that no medical treatment should be given to him without her consent. His wife, Gitanjali J Angmo, said he should not have been taken to hospital and is now with him at Safdarjung Hospital. She asked the authorities not to give him any medication without consulting her, his family, or his doctors.
“I am at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi where [Sonam Wangchuk] It was accepted,” she wrote on X.
