New Delhi: After Delhi Police on Saturday moved activist Sonam Wangchuk from Jantar Mantar to Safdarjung Hospital on the 21st day of his indefinite hunger strike, his wife Gitanjali J Angmo objected to any medical treatment being given without her consent.
Angmo said she would not permit doctors to start treatment without her consent and warned officials she would hold them responsible for any harm. “He is at Safdarjung Hospital. I forbid them from administering anything without my consent. No treatment should start without my consent. I hold everybody accountable if anything happens,” she told PTI.
Questioning the need for hospitalisation, Angmo said Wangchuk had been stable the previous day and argued that moving him to hospital was unnecessary. She also invoked her legal rights: “Yesterday, he was doing fine. There was no need to bring him to the hospital. It’s my right under Article 32. Without my consent and my doctor’s consent, nothing can be administered.”
Delhi Police said the transfer followed medical advice and complied with directions from the Delhi High Court.
Security Tightened Around Jantar Mantar
After Wangchuk’s admission, police beefed up security around Jantar Mantar and across parts of New Delhi. Authorities deployed large numbers of police and paramilitary personnel, erected barricades at key points and regulated movement to prevent possible law-and-order problems.
Protesters Accuse Police Of Force
The transfer sparked accusations from protesters that police used force. Cockroach Janata Party founder Abhijit Dipke claimed on X that officers had beaten and detained him, and alleged that police personnel were physically removing protesters and Wangchuk from the site.
However, members of the All India Students’ Association (AISA) — Neha, Aameen and Manish — remained at the protest site on day 21, continuing their hunger strikes. AISA said supporters formed a human chain to prevent police from removing the three.
Neha, who began fasting on June 28, described a large police presence that she said advanced toward the stage after plainclothes officers arrived early in the morning.
“Sonam Wangchuk was forcibly removed. Then they tried to come to the AISA tent to detain us, but because there were a lot of protesters around, they could not do so. The attempts by Delhi Police to forcibly end a peaceful protest are shameful,” she said, adding: “The government has been ignoring the protest, and now, on day 21, they want to force us to end our agitation. We appeal to all to come to Jantar Mantar.”
