‘Said they were doctors, then Sonam sir was gone’: Jantar Mantar protesters on police operation

In the next few minutes, Prashanth said the group took over the stage, made a makeshift curtain, and took Wangchuk away to Safdarjung Hospital.

The men were Delhi Police personnel dressed in civilian clothes. On its official X handle, the police posted that it had acted “as per orders of Hon’ble High Court and on expert medical advice due to the deteriorating health condition” of the activist.

Amid the chaos that ensued, Dipke, who was away from the site when the police arrived, rushed back by 9 am. He alleged he was briefly detained by police while they took Wangchuk away.

Rallying the protesters, Dipke announced that he will sit on hunger strike. “They took him like you take away criminals. They thought the andolan (movement) would lose steam without Sonam sir. Now, instead of him, I will sit on an indefinite hunger strike,” he announced.

“It was not just shameless how they took Sonam ji away. The Delhi Police cited a Delhi High Court order about his health. But the court said (to admit him) if his condition was dire. Sonam sir was clear that he was stable. The medical reports show that his vitals are fine,” he said.

About an hour later, when social activist Yogendra Yadav reached the protest site and climbed the stage to show solidarity, Dipke was moved to tears.

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Holding a copy of the Constitution, he said, “If you’re concerned about Sonam sir, you would have taken him away with dignity. If you don’t join the Jantar Mantar (protest) even now, then nothing (good) can happen to this country,” he lamented as tears rolled down his eyes, as other CJP members stood behind him holding Wangchuk’s photo.
Protesters, meanwhile, alleged they were manhandled.

Protesters, meanwhile, alleged they were manhandled.

Prashant said he was dragged away. “My phone broke… Sonam sir was resisting the police but he was forcibly taken away. I tried calling Dipke as he was out, and I suspected they might arrest him,” said Prasanth, showing some minor scratches on his body. 

Sonu, 27, who came two days ago from Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda to join the protest, said he was charging his phone when he saw men going towards Wangchuk.

“They were kicking away the boards on the stage. When I came running, they told me ‘tumhara koi kaam nahi hai yaha (you don’t have any work here).”

“I haven’t seen anything like this. It’s like one moment he was there, and then he was not. Once we removed the curtains on stage, only his book was left on his mattress,” he said.

From around 9 am, supporters, seemingly galvanised by Wangchuk being taken away, continued to stream into the site, with the crowd swelling to nearly 800 by evening.

People from different cities gathered at Jantar Mantar and vowed to join the July 20 march.  Aanya, a college student from Rajasthan, said she joined the protest with her father and brother over “corruption”. “I am fed up with the government. As students we need to raise our voices,” she said, adding that her friends had been affected by the alleged NEET exam paper leak.

Her father said the crowd had increased since morning. “Politicians haven’t paid heed to students and consider them cockroaches… So many cockroaches will gather here, including some senior cockroaches like us, that the government won’t be able to ignore this anymore,” he said.

A 17-year-old, who is about to join college, said she got to know about Wangchuk being picked up while she was at her home in Faridabad. “I got an alert on a WhatsApp group of students and came here. I have been here before, and will keep coming till Dipke and others are protesting,” she said.

Arvind Maurya, a lawyer at the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court, said he had come to Delhi for the July 20 protest. “When I reached around 7 am, I got to know that Wangchuk had been taken away from the protest. So I immediately came here,” he said.