The first day goes like a breeze. The second day, there is an unusual energy. From the third day onwards, memories of food — its smells and textures — come in flashes to the mind. Hunger arrives in waves, but students say it is the ever-present heat that has been overwhelming at the capital’s Jantar Mantar, which has become a hunger strike junction over the last four days.
Also read | Sonam Wangchuk begins hunger strike at Jantar Mantar, six students join
The centre stage is occupied by activist Sonam Wangchuk, who cuts a solitary figure lying on the Cockroach Janata Party stage, amidst a continuous stream of speeches and visits by various political leaders. On the left, screened away from the crowd, are six All India Students’ Association (AISA) activists, the student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), who are also on the fourth day of their hunger strike. A little distance away, nine people are huddled together, the third batch of hunger strikers, now on their third day.
Spectators and mediapersons walk in and out amidst this triangle of protesters. The only thing common to the three is their demand for Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation, taking responsibility for the irregularities in the CBSE examination and the recurrent leaks in competitive exams, including the medical entyrance exam, NEET, which was postponed after a paper leak in May.
Changed rhythms
For Ameen, a third-year PhD scholar of Urban Studies at Ambedkar University and an AISA activist, this is his first hunger strike. “On the third day, I started dreaming of biting into pyaaz paranthas [onion paranthas] that my mother makes and mangoes,” he said. But on the fourth day, he said, the body starts getting used to the rhythm. Along with it comes a heightened self-awareness as doctors keep a regular tab on the strikers. The health charts of the six students — detailing their blood pressure, heart rate, weight, and blood sugar — festoon the AISA camp.
AISA president Neha, who is in the third year of her PhD in performance arts at Jawaharlal Nehru University, celebrated her 29th birthday on June 20, when the sit-in protest began at Jantar Mantar. It takes time for the body to get used to the fact that food is no longer part of its daily cycle, she said. For her, it is the memory of biting into an apple and the juice filling her mouth, and photographs of food, that come in flashes as she tries to get some sleep between the blaring loudspeakers and the oppressive heat.
A long movement
“It is not the hunger, but the monotony that is overwhelming,” she concludes. Having to remain stationary to conserve energy is far more sapping, in her assessment, than the denial of food. But the punishment of the body has to continue, she says, because the government has left the students with no choice.
Ms. Neha is careful in her comments on the visible division among the protesters, with each group sitting away from the others. “It is not for me to say why all the hunger strikers aren’t sharing the stage. I can only speak for ourselves. We [AISA] have been protesting paper leaks since 2021. Ours has been a long movement,” she said. She underlines that they have a cordial relationship with the third set of hunger strikers, who often come to their side to charge phones and chat.
Protecting future generations
These nine protesters — strangers to each other until they all met on June 20 at Jantar Mantar — decided to join the hunger strike on Monday, a day after Mr. Wangchuk began it. They have no prior affiliation with any political outfit and not all of them are students.
Aditya Singh from Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh is an advocate at the Allahabad High Court. His reason for being here is to “protect the generations ahead from a similar fate” as his generation. In this rebellion, it is not the government but the wafting smell of samosas that he finds more challenging. “If Dharmendra Pradhan is adamant about not resigning, then I guess we are also adamant about not eating food. Anyway, we are younger than him; our liver and kidneys function better,” Mr. Singh said.
Sitting beside him, Sonu from Madhubani in Bihar scrolls through his phone, where food delivery apps advertise burgers for ₹50. Holding up the screen, he jokes, “This is the BJP’s IT cell at work. It is a conspiracy to derail our protest,” prompting laughter from everyone gathered around him.
Published – July 01, 2026 07:49 pm IST
