Activist Sonam Wangchuk has revealed that he softened his demand for Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation during negotiations with the government, making protection from legal harassment of protesting students his “non-negotiable” condition for ending his hunger strike.
Wangchuk, speaking to Prakhar Gupta on the PGX podcast, said that by July 22 he no longer considered Pradhan's resignation his top priority as he became increasingly concerned about the possibility of violence spreading to other cities.
“By 22 I didn't see resignation as the first priority,” Sonam Wangchuk said, adding that he was also considering the damage the continued demand for resignation was causing.
He said he began to believe that Pradhan's resignation could happen later and that other people were also demanding it.
“So I started thinking that this resignation will probably happen because they should have done much earlier,” Wangchuk said. “Maybe they didn't have resignation in mind. If it doesn't happen, it will happen in two-four days, and there are others also demanding it.”
'Non-negotiable' was no legal harassment
Wangchuk said his focus during the negotiations shifted to ensuring that students who had participated in the protest would not face criminal cases or other forms of legal harassment.
{{/usCountry}}Wangchuk said his focus during the negotiations shifted to ensuring that students who had participated in the protest would not face criminal cases or other forms of legal harassment.
{{/usCountry}}“But my main point was that there should be no legal harassment,” he said. “So I softened the resignation demand a little and said — you can consider accountability through resignation, but the non-negotiable is that you will not do legal harassment.”
The demand assumed greater importance for Wangchuk because of his experience following the September 2025 violence in Ladakh. He said more than 80 cases were still pending a year later and that people who had been trying to prevent violence had themselves been jailed.
Wangchuk said he feared a similar situation could develop around the Delhi protest.
Wangchuk insisted on written assurance
According to Wangchuk, government interlocutors initially told him that they could provide only a verbal assurance that protesters would not face legal harassment.
He rejected that proposal.
“I said, ‘If it happens, it will be written. Later, there is no honour in anything,’” Wangchuk recalled. “I want a written signature that no FIR, no legal harassment will be on any students who are exercising their fundamental right.”
Also read: Sonam Wangchuk says CJP leaders wanted to end protest after July 20 crackdown
He said he was eventually informed around 11.30pm on July 23 that the government was willing to provide the assurance in writing.
The negotiations followed meetings with Union ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh, who Wangchuk said first met him at the hospital on the night of July 21 and asked him to end his hunger strike.
At that stage, Wangchuk said his demands included accountability through resignation, compensation and a parliamentary discussion aimed at finding long-term solutions. He later added the demand that peaceful protesters not face FIRs or harassment.
Why Wangchuk feared continuing the protest
Wangchuk said his decision to prioritise the legal-protection demand was also influenced by the violence he believed could erupt if the agitation continued.
He recalled seeing reports of a “violent buildup” in Connaught Place on the night of July 23, including preparations around metro stations and the deployment of police and paramilitary forces.
“If two-three lakh people in Ladakh had so many people killed, what could happen in Delhi?” Wangchuk said, adding that if the unrest spread to Mumbai, Lucknow and other cities, it could become a “civil war situation”.
He said he therefore wanted to make an appeal that the hunger strike and the confrontation should end once adequate assurances were secured.
CJP continued to seek Pradhan’s resignation
Wangchuk’s decision to soften the resignation demand during negotiations did not end the issue for the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP).
After Wangchuk’s hunger strike was broken, CJP leaders decided to continue the protest and demand Pradhan’s resignation.
Wangchuk said he supported that decision, arguing that resignation represented accountability for what had happened during the protest, even if a change of minister did not necessarily lead to major improvements in education.
“An accountability and some responsiveness” had been achieved, he said, but he did not see a major transformation in the education system following Pradhan’s departure.