Jantar Mantar protest: Tharoor appeals to Wangchuk to end fast, urges govt to initiate dialogue

NEW DELHI: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday appealed to activist Sonam Wangchuk to end his fast at Jantar Mantar over alleged irregularities in the NEET exam, and urged the government to engage in dialogue, asserting that such a move is not a sign of weakness but that of statesmanship.

In an open letter to the Jantar Mantar protestors, Tharoor said that with Parliament in session again from Monday, there will be an opportunity to raise the students' issues at the highest forum of democracy.

"That's where the problem should be addressed, not by fasting unto death. Please heed my plea," he said.

"My dear young friends, I address you today not as a politician or an MP, but as someone deeply troubled by what is happening to your generation of young Indians. This is personal for me. I was born to a middle-class family: my father was a salaried newspaper employee, my mother a homemaker, with three children to educate on one income," he said.

"For a family like ours, merit was not a slogan. Scholarships, fair examinations, honest results -” these were the only way one salary could carry three children's dreams," the MP from Thiruvananthapuram said.

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) has been holding a protest at Jantar Mantar demanding Pradhan's resignation over alleged irregularities in the NEET examination. Wangchuk joined the agitation on June 28 and has been on an indefinite fast since then. The organisation has also announced a march to Parliament on July 20.

Tharoor said that he went to school in Mumbai and Kolkata, to college in Delhi, topped the university and earned admission into IIM,” but chose instead to follow his passion for international affairs, in the US, on a scholarship.

Nothing was inherited; everything was earned by hard work and exams, he stressed.

"So I know that a fair, merit-based system is the only ladder for young people from lower and middle-income families to climb up. When that ladder is broken -”- papers leaked, examinations cancelled, trust destroyed --” the children of the rich and powerful do not suffer.

"They have other ladders. It is your dreams, and your families' sacrifices (and tragically, in some homes, young lives themselves) that are betrayed," Tharoor said in his open letter on X.

To the young people gathered at Jantar Mantar, and those raising your voices peacefully across India: this country hears you, he said.

"Your anger is not indiscipline -” it is the anguish of a generation that did everything right and was still betrayed . You are not alone," the Congress leader said.

"And to the millions of young Indians watching quietly: your generation is not a problem to be managed. You are the answer to India's future. Do not lose hope. This ladder will be rebuilt -” by you, and by every Indian who stands with you," he said.

In his message to Wangchuk, Tharoor made a "heartfelt appeal" to him to end his fast.

"You have awakened the conscience of the nation; that is what a fast is meant to do. India needs your voice for the long road ahead," Tharoor said.

"With Parliament in session again from Monday, we will have an opportunity to raise the students' issues in the highest forum of our democracy. That's where the problem should be addressed, not by fasting unto death. Please heed my plea," he said.

In his message to the government, Tharoor urged it to reach out and engage in the dialogue "our democracy owes its young citizens".

"That is not weakness; that is statesmanship," he asserted.

Activist Wangchuk is suffering muscle loss and is in "immense pain" but has refused to end his hunger strike despite various sections appealing to him to call off his 17-day fast and urging the government to initiate dialogue.

The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which has been protesting at Jantar Mantar for the past 25 days over the NEET issue, unveiled a five-point examination reform charter and claimed that support for its agitation was growing across political parties.

As Wangchuk's health continued to deteriorate, several leaders like Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, among others, requested the activist to end his fast.

Veteran actor Zeenat Aman also appealed to the government to open a dialogue with Wangchuk, saying India should not "sit back and watch one of its greatest minds be sacrificed".

Another member from the cinema world, '3 Idiots' actor Omi Vaidya (who essayed the role of Chatur "Silencer" Ramalingam) urged people to pay attention to the deteriorating health of Wangchuk, saying he does not want the activist to die.

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke has said Wangchuk has been losing muscle mass and is in "immense pain", adding the activist has lost 8.5 kg since the beginning of his fast.