Opposition Leaders Slam Action Against Wangchuk
Rahul Gandhi, Kejriwal and Thackeray criticise the government over the activist's forced removal from Jantar Mantar
Synopsis
Opposition leaders across parties condemned the removal of activist Sonam Wangchuk from the Jantar Mantar protest site on Saturday, describing the police action as an avoidable escalation. Congress's Rahul Gandhi, AAP's Arvind Kejriwal and Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Uddhav Thackeray were among those who called for the government to engage with protesters rather than resort to force.
A Chorus of Criticism
Rahul Gandhi termed the removal of a man observing a non-violent fast as fundamentally wrong, linking it to what he described as the government's broader conduct.
"The removal of Sonam Wangchuk ji from Jantar Mantar while he was on a non-violent hunger strike is wrong," — Rahul Gandhi, Congress MP, in a post on X.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, “Be it Professor G.D. Agarwal, who sat on a fast-unto-death for 111 days to save Mother Ganga, or the Olympic wrestlers from Haryana; Be it our 750 farmers who feed the nation, Dalits and Adivasis, or the 25 youths and their families who fell victim to exam paper leaks; this authoritarian government has spared no one.” In their eyes, anyone who raises their voice is branded ‘anti-national’ or a ‘parasite’,” Kharge said, slamming the BJP-led government.
The people of our country and the entire world are currently looking at the BJP Government with suspicious eyes full of doubts and questions. This undesirable action of the BJP government, which does repressive politics, has tarnished and fragmented the humanitarian and democratic image of our country at the International stage.
Kejriwal argued that dialogue, not force, should have guided the government's response, urging reforms to the examination system rather than a crackdown on the demonstration. AAP colleagues Sanjay Singh and Saurabh Bharadwaj separately alleged that police personnel had entered the site in plain clothes, an allegation authorities did not confirm in detail.
Speaking to reporters at Nagpur airport, Thackeray condemned the Centre's handling of the matter, calling the removal shameful and questioning the government's regard for citizens' welfare amid the wider protest over the NEET paper leak controversy.