Security personnel stand guard as activist Sonam Wangchuk (unseen), who has been on an indefinite hunger strike for 21 days, is being shifted to a hospital from the protest site at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on July 18, 2026.
| Photo Credit: PTI
The Congress on Saturday (July 18, 2026) criticised the police action at Jantar Mantar, following which activist Sonam Wangchuk was shifted to a hospital, describing it as a “blot” on the country’s democracy and the Constitution. They alleged that it reflected the government’s mindset that a peaceful protest is not a fundamental democratic right to be protected, but a law and order problem to be crushed.
Attacking the BJP, the Opposition party also said it was a shame that the world’s largest democracy was being “ruled” by the most undemocratic and anti-democratic political party in the world.
In a post in Hindi 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.
“What transpired at Jantar Mantar today is yet another blot on our democracy and Constitution,” the Congress chief said.
The “Chhatron ki Goonj (voice of the students)” has begun to resonate from Kota and Dehradun, and it will certainly reach the very doorstep of Delhi, he said.
Congress’ media and publicity department head, Pawan Khera, said the Constitution guarantees the right to dissent, but the Home Ministry appears determined to deny it.
“The Delhi Police reports directly to the Home Ministry, the very Ministry that appointed a new Police Commissioner in Delhi just yesterday. If today’s crackdown is his first brief, it sends a chilling message: political obedience takes precedence over Constitutional duty,” Mr. Khera said.
From dragging away women wrestlers to manhandling ex-servicemen, this government has repeatedly demonstrated its contempt for the Constitution, he alleged.
“Today’s actions lay bare this government’s mindset: peaceful protest is not a fundamental democratic right to be protected, but a law-and-order problem to be crushed,” Mr. Khera said.
“It is a shame that the world’s largest democracy is being ‘ruled’ by the most undemocratic and anti-democratic political party in the world,” he said.
His remarks came after Mr. Wangchuk was shifted to the Safdarjung Hospital early Saturday (July 18, 2026) as his health deteriorated on the 21st day of his indefinite hunger strike at Jantar Mantar, with the police citing medical advice and directions of the Delhi High Court.
Congress Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha said that he warned Mr. Wangchuk and his wife about his evacuation to the hospital soon when he visited them on Friday (July 17, 2026). “The 1 sign of preparation was the change of Police Commissioner,” he said. “Sonam, like an eternal good person, was hopeful that [the government] would find a solution by the 20th.”
Mr. Wangchuk and the three activists from AISA have been on an indefinite hunger strike since June 28 in support of the CJP-led protest over alleged irregularities in the NEET examination and the reported deaths of students linked to the controversy.
Their health had shown a steady decline over the past three weeks.
Published – July 18, 2026 01:37 pm IST
