"From illegal detention" | Sonam Wangchuk's message ahead of ‘India’s 2nd freedom movement’

Activist Sonam Wangchuk has shared a handwritten note from what he describes as his "illegal detention" at Delhi's Safdarjung hospital. Still on hunger strike despite being removed from Jantar Mantar, he has urged his supporters to make tomorrow's march to Parliament a "big success". But as he remains hospitalised, frail and weak after three weeks of hunger strike, his wife Gitanjali J Angmo has vowed to lead the march when Parliament resumes for the Monsoon Session tomorrow. Wangchuk had been at the centre of the protests over the alleged NEET paper leak. In his note, he described the protest as "India's 2nd freedom movement", calling for "freedom from injustice (like paper leaks)" and "freedom from fear (my illegal detention)."

"March to the Parliament. Please make it a big success," he wrote. "Sent through Gitanjali from my illegal detention at Safdarjung," he signed off.

Wangchuk, an educator himself, had been demanding greater transparency and accountability in the education system. He has staged several protests and hunger strikes over the years over issues related to Ladakh and education. The trigger for his latest demonstration is the alleged NEET paper leak. He joined the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)'s protest against Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on June 28 and started a hunger strike to draw attention to the students' issues. On July 18 morning - the 21st day of his hunger strike - the police reached Jantar Mantar and shifted him to Safdarjung hospital. The police action came days after the Delhi High Court asked the government to do whatever it could to save Wangchuk's life.

Angmo has now approached the high court, seeking to shift her husband from the government-run hospital to a private facility, alleging a lack of transparency in his treatment.