Social activist Anna Hazare on Saturday urged the Union government to hold talks with educationist Sonam Wangchuk, saying discussions should be held on his demands after he was taken to Safdarjung Hospital by Delhi Police for treatment earlier in the day.
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“The government should not test his limits. Say yes or no (to his demands), but what is wrong in holding discussions?” Hazare told news agency PTI.
Wangchuk has been demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper leak scandal.
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Saturday (July 18) marks the 21st day of his indefinite hunger strike at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.
Hazare’s appeal comes years after his own hunger strike in Delhi demanding the Lokpal Act, which rocked the UPA government in 2011.
While the police said the hospitalisation was undertaken as per a Delhi High Court order on monitoring Wangchuk’s health, CJP’s Abhijeet Dipke claimed the climate activist was “taken away forcefully”.
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Some students also claimed they were lathicharged at the protest site.
The CJP protesters at Jantar Mantar alleged that the police personnel arrived at the site and claimed to be a medical team. They ordered the volunteers to move aside, a protester was quoted as saying by ANI.
Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) chief spokesperson Saurav Das alleged that the Delhi Police had misinterpreted the Delhi High Court’s directions while shifting Sonam Wangchuk to hospital and termed his detention a contempt of court.
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“The Delhi High Court directed that the health of Sonam Wangchuk should be monitored and any intervention should only take place if his health deteriorates. His health is monitored by our medical team 2-3 times a day and he himself posts videos on a daily basis giving update about his health which has been stable. The Delhi police has misinterpreted that court order and in the guise of that order detained him. The detention is a contempt of court’s order,” Das said.
(With inputs from agencies)
