The Indian activist said on his X account on Thursday that Sonam Wangchuk has ended her hunger strike after 26 days.
The 59-year-old man had been on a hunger strike since June 28 to show solidarity with India’s youth-led Cockroach movement.
The student-led protesters are demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the leaked medical exam question paper scam.
“Just now, I finally broke my fast after 26 days in the presence of Union Ministers JP Nadda and Dr Jitendra Singh and senior leaders of the apex body of Leh and Ladakh,” Wangchuk wrote.
He said that 65 Members of Parliament from different political parties had met him or urged him to break the fast.
The Cockroach Movement protest on Monday ended in clashes with police and dozens of arrests after protesters defied police orders and marched towards Parliament.
Following the clashes, the opposition Congress party demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Home Minister Amit Shah step down over the police action.
Wanghuk said he has decided to end his hunger strike “after lengthy negotiations on various terms and in view of the potential violence in the country. In the meantime, I urge all of you to be very vigilant about not allowing any kind of violence anywhere.”
Earlier on Thursday, Wangchuk had offered to end his hunger strike if the government agreed not to harm the student protesters.
He said he was seeking assurances from the government, including compensation for the families of students who committed suicide and the resignation of India’s education minister.
More on this developing story to come on dw.com…
Edited by: Carl Sexton
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