Has Sonam Wangchuk just given the government a NEET and clean lifeline?

Activist Sonam Wangchuk, whose hunger strike nourished the protest against the NEET-UG paper leak at Jantar Mantar, has given the government an off-ramp. An end to the protests might be in sight with Wangchuk toning down his demand for Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation. This, as Rahul Gandhi had just begun.

If there is a centre holding the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest together, it is Sonam Wangchuk. The activist from Ladakh has gone without food for weeks to nourish the movement. If there is one reason the Centre needs to be worried, it is Wangchuk who's on an indefinite hunger strike. Get him to break the fast, and you have a faster resolution.

And on Wednesday (July 22), Wangchuk seems to have offered the government precisely that — an exit. The three conditions to end his hunger strike tone down the main demand that sparked the entire showdown and intensified the protest.

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan must resign. That was the key demand with which the CJP protest began at New Delhi's Jantar Mantar on June 6 over the NEET-UG question paper leak issue. There was little traction and sparse attendance except on weekends. Then on June 28, Wangchuk began his indefinite hunger strike with one word on his lips — resignation.

India Today Digital has documented how people were drawn to the protest site at Jantar Mantar not for CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, but for a fasting Wangchuk. As days progressed, concerns over his health grew. So did the interest in the protest and the footfall.

When asked how Pradhan's resignation would help fix India's education and examination system, a visibly weak Wangchuk argued that it would symbolise that the government was fixing accountability. That would be the beginning of the reforms process, he argued.

That beginning seems to have been forsaken now.

However, something significant took place between July 18, when Wangchuk was forcibly removed from the protest site by the government, and July 22, when he issued the terms of ending his fast.

On July 20, thousands of people, heeding Wangchuk's and the CJP's call, tried to march to Parliament. As the protesters clashed with police and RAF personnel, allegations of excessive use of force emerged. Scores of students and over 100 policemen were left injured. Cases were registered against dozens of youths and several of them were detained.

On Wednesday (July 22), on the 25th day of his indefinite hunger strike, Wangchuk mentioned three conditions, including that the government pursue no legal case against the protesting youths, to end his fast. The Pradhan-must-resign demand was toned down.

Behind Wangchuk's change of heart were two Union ministers — JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh — and their 10-minute meeting with him at Medanta hospital in Gurgaon on Tuesday night, and his desire to live.

"Thank you for visiting me at the hospital last night and for your earnest appeal that I end my fast," said Wangchuk in a statement issued on Wednesday.

He mentioned that the ministers had "assured him that the government would positively consider" — "adequate compensation" for the families of students who died by suicide following the NEET-UG examination paper leak and "a meaningful discussion in Parliament to ensure accountability, including consideration of the resignation of the Hon'ble Education Minister".

Consideration isn't confirmation. Consideration is that promise that comes broken.

First, Wangchuk was shifted out of the protest site, and now he seems to have helped shift the protest's goalposts.

But by Wednesday, the crowds at Jantar Mantar had swelled. The clips of police action against protesters from July 20 and algorithms had done their job. Sixteen central Metro stations had to be shut down for the entire day on Wednesday. Thursday too, might see such disruptions in Metro services, hitting lakhs of commuters.

The government needed an exit, and it had been working on it.

It knew that Wangchuk was the centre of gravity and the others of the CJP visibly lacked gravity. It knew that getting Wangchuk to agree to its conditions would secure it an exit from the intensifying protests.

In his statement, Wangchuk said, "...I want to live. I want to return to my students, to education, to the work that has defined my life. But I cannot do so at the cost of the very young people for whom this movement began."

He wanted an assurance from the government that none of the young protesters would face any action for participating in the movement. "If such an assurance is given, I shall end my fast..." Wangchuk said.

While Wangchuk was preparing to end the protest, Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, had only just begun. He had just raised the stakes, adding an apology from the prime minister to the Pradhan-must-resign demand. It can't end so soon!

The Opposition got a whiff of what the government was achieving and a group of MPs headed to meet Wangchuk at Medanta in Gurgaon. But unlike ministers Nadda and Singh, the MPs were denied a meeting with Wangchuk. They did what the Opposition does best — they sat on a dharna outside the hospital.

The government will now try to ensure that the protest at Jantar Mantar doesn't get hijacked — the signs of which were evident in the attacks on cops on Wednesday night. It will also try to ensure that the debate over paper leaks takes place in Parliament. Nadda, in a media briefing on Wednesday evening, made it clear that any discussion on paper leaks would only happen in the House.

As for the protest at Jantar Mantar, just a formal announcement that Wangchuk has ended his fast is all that needs to go out now. His new demands aren't that demanding. The council can keep having Pradhan's wise counsel for now. The Opposition can keep opposing. Wangchuk, who has lost 11 kg since beginning his hunger strike, gets to eat. The government gets an off-ramp and can convince the people like Phunsukh Wangdu AKA Rancho did in 3 Idiots — Aall is well, aall is well.

- Ends