As Sonam Wangchuk hangs on to hunger strike, weight loss approaches 9 kg

Activist Sonam Wangchuk’s fast demanding Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation has entered its eighteenth day. Mr. Wangchuk’s health has drawn widespread concern among liberal, progressive and political Opposition voices, many of whom have urged him to end his fast. Mr. Wangchuk is close to emaciation, according to medical reports published by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), the movement for which he is fasting.

Over the last two weeks, Mr. Wangchuk has gone from two medical examinations to near round-the-clock supervision as his medical condition worsens. “Dr Satish Lamba, General Physician, Medical Superintendent, The Clinics, Hauz Khas, New Delhi, and former Secretary of the Delhi Medical Association (DMA), said that Sonam Wangchuk remains very weak and is under 24-hour medical vigilance due to his prolonged fast,” the CJP said in a statement on Wednesday (July 15, 2026) afternoon.

Weight loss

Mr. Wangchuk, 59, has lost 8.9 kg, according to a review of descriptions of his condition published by the CJP over the last week. “According to the latest health bulletin, Sonam Wangchuk’s weight has dropped to 57.15 kg, down 400 grams from 57.55 kg recorded yesterday,” the CJP said. “His blood sugar level is 80 mg/dL, hydration is fair, he remains mentally alert, and blood pressure is 105/76 mmHg.”

Mr. Wangchuk’s vitals have hit and exceeded thresholds described in medical literature for hunger strikers. (Mr. Wangchuk’s blood sugar is back in the normal range, but this is likely due to “ketone metabolism,” where the body taps into backup energy reserves in the absence of food.)

Mr. Wangchuk also has to deal with the potential complications of any lasting impact his past hunger strikes may have on the current one. He has fasted on two separate occasions for over twenty days in 2024 while protesting on Ladakh conservation and autonomy issues.

Intake

Mr. Wangchuk has only been drinking salt water and was not, as of Wednesday (July 15) morning, hooked up to an intravenous drip, as Anna Hazare was in 2011 during the India Against Corruption movement. He has been lying largely in a fixed position on a makeshift bed with an elevated headrest.

While the activist has been physically frail, he has been speaking to CJP’s founders. Late Tuesday evening (July 14), Mr Wangchuk was escorted slowly by a large group to the restroom. Upon his return, he engaged in a prolonged discussion with CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke, and spokesperson Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka. Mr. Dipke has said on X that Mr. Wangchuk rebuffed urges to end his strike, and demanded that the government initiate a dialogue.

Mr. Wangchuk has complained very little about his likely excruciating ordeal, with one exception: the noise. As a Ladakhi living at a high altitude, he was overcome with the urban noise around Jantar Mantar’s protest site. He pleaded on X, formerly Twitter, on July 2 that someone transport his noise cancelling earphones (a now discontinued model that is no longer available for purchase) from Bengaluru. “The noise here is killing me,” he rued, amid a fast unto death. (Vijay Mallangi, a CJP member, confirmed to The Hindu that he got the earphones.)