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Read The Diplomat, Know The Asia-Pacific Sonam Wangchuk has ended his 26-day hunger strike supporting the Cockroach Janta Party’s demand for the education minister’s resignation. What did it achieve? Social activist Sonam Wangchuk (right) ends his 26-day-long hunger strike after reaching an agreement with the Narendra Modi government, New Delhi, India, July 24, 2026. Indian activist Sonam Wangchuk’s 26-day fast, which he ended on Thursday night, has not yet achieved the protestors’ goal: the sacking of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. But it has created impact; it has put the Narendra Modi government on the back foot for the first time since the farmers’ protests in 2021. Wangchuk’s decision to end the hunger strike came after the government moved to address the NEET paper leak controversy and youth protests with a series of assurances. Thousands of students and youth protesters are still occupying the Jantar Mantar area in New Delhi. Following Wangchuk’s decision to end the fast, Abhijit Dipke – the founder of India’s satirical political movement, the Cockroach Janta Party – expressed relief, saying that Wangchuk’s life is precious. He vowed that the movement will continue until Pradhan resigns or is sacked. “We won’t let Wangchuk’s immense sacrifice go in vain,” Dipke said. The hunger strike as a mode of protest and resistance in the modern era is believed to have originated in Tsarist Russia in the late 19th century when prisoners refused food, seeking an end to inhumane treatment. Later, in the U.K. and the U.S., women’s suffrage activists in prison used hunger strikes to seek “political prisoner” status. In both countries, the prison authorities’ attempts to force-feed the hunger strikers triggered adverse sentiments and ultimately helped mobilization of public opinion in favor of the protesters. In Ireland, independence activists also used it in jails to galvanize support for better prison conditions and the cause of independence. Irish prisoner Bobby Sands’ death after refusing food for 66 days triggered public sympathy for his cause. In India, Mohandas “Mahatma” Gandhi brought this mode of protest into the public sphere — outside prison walls — starting with a fast in support of workers’ demand for a wage hike in 1918. He succeeded in making the mill owners concede his demands. Thereafter, Gandhi used hunger strikes quite successfully to unite a large and diverse population against the British colonial powers as peacefully as possible — not only until India’s independence in 1947, but also after, especially to stop communal riots. Gandhi was not alone in using this form of protest. During the independence movement, militant activists Bhagat Singh and Jatin Das, among many others, went on hunger strike during their prison days. Das’ death triggered nationwide protests and increased support for the independence movement. Gandhi, nevertheless, was the one to use it effectively outside the jail premises — where he had many other modes of protest available. His extraordinary success gave this mode of protest global popularity in the decades that followed. It remained popular in independent India too, with some notable achievements and some despairing failures. Potti Sriramulu’s 58-day fast for a Telugu-speaking state in 1952 ended with his death. But the public sentiment it generated led to the achievement of the demand — the creation of Andhra State in 1953. Six decades later, K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s fast‑unto‑death in 2009 accelerated the creation of a separate Telangana state, carved out of Andhra Pradesh. However, Manipuri activist Irom Sharmila’s 16-year hunger strike failed to achieve her objective. Even though the fast drew attention to the draconian provisions of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, the law was not repealed. She was force-fed through a tube in her nose in a hospital in government custody until she broke her fast to return to normal life in 2016. She said she hadn’t achieved anything through her prolonged fasting. She contested an election but was defeated. A history of hunger strikes shows that they create a larger impact only when their cause strikes a chord with a large population’s direct and immediate interest, the demands are narrow and meetable, and the hunger-striker enjoys some sort of pre-existing authority or reputation and draws support from organized political or civil society movements. The nature of the adversary also plays a role in the success of such a mode of protest. In 2018, scientist-turned-ascetic Guru Das Agrawal, one of India’s leading environmentalists, died following a 111-day fast seeking government promise and action for saving the Ganges River from pollution. The media showed little interest in his fast until he died. The government did not care either. Wangchuk began his indefinite hunger strike in New Delhi on June 28. It gained larger public attention only from July 16-17, when it was reported that he had lost over 9 kilograms of weight due to fasting. Several factors worked in drawing public attention and sympathy. The first was that the cause – exam system reforms and the demand for the education minister’s removal – had already become a major concern. The second was that Wangchuk had been in the media spotlight for some time. A Ramon Magsaysay awardee, he has a history of activism, including one that cost him 170 days in detention for his participation in the Ladakh protests last year. Third, leftist student groups lent their support at the recent hunger strike venue in New Delhi. Besides, he has enjoyed a sort of celebrity image, partly due to the public perception that a prominent character in a Bollywood blockbuster was based on him. During 2011-13, social activist Anna Hazare’s fasts in Delhi played a key role in galvanizing public opinion against the then Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. Hazare was well-known in his home state of Maharashtra but was not as eminent as Wangchuk is nationwide. However, the crowd that gathered around Hazare included some big names: former top cop Kiran Bedi, lawyer Prashant Bhushan, and rights activist Medha Patkar, among others. Besides, the image of a frail old man in Gandhian attire launching a hunger strike seeking measures to prevent corruption when the UPA government was rocked by a series of scam charges struck a chord with many people across the country. Importantly, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was stage-managing the event, which culminated in the fall of the UPA government in 2014. This is one of the reasons why the Congress, India’s main opposition party, has been skeptical about Wangchuk and the CJP. Are they mere fronts for someone else? Despite the doubts and suspicions, the Congress entered the scene after police forcefully took Wangchuk to hospital, a CJP-called protest march early this week drew massive crowds, and clashes broke out between cops and the protesters. Wangchuk has ended his fa