Activist Sonam Wangchuk has alleged that the Centre went back on its word by allowing photos of him ending his 26-day hunger strike with Union ministers to be released, saying the incident left him disappointed with political leaders across party lines.
Speaking to India Today in an exclusive interview, Wangchuk claimed that there was a clear understanding that no photographs from his late-night meeting with Union Ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh at Medanta Hospital in Gurugram on July 24, 2026 would be released until Opposition leaders and student representatives were also part of the announcement.
“The ministers had their own photographers. They promised me they wouldn’t release the pictures. But they broke that promise,” Wangchuk told India Today.
Wangchuk said it is a long-standing tradition in Ladakh for government representatives to offer juice or soup to someone ending a hunger strike after their demands are accepted. However, he said he did not want the moment to be seen as an event involving only the ruling party.
”I wanted leaders from other political parties and student representatives to be there. It should have looked like a joint effort,” he said.
According to Wangchuk, since the ministers met him after midnight, he suggested that he would end the fast immediately but the announcement and photographs should only be released later, after leaders from the Opposition and student groups were also included.
”I said I would break the fast, but the news should go out on my terms, with photographs of leaders from all sides so that it appeared to be a collective effort,” he told India Today.
Wangchuk claimed the ministers agreed to the proposal and that senior Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials present during the meeting were asked to witness the understanding.
”I told the IB officers they were witnesses to this agreement. Nobody should release any images until I announced it with everyone represented. They agreed,” he said.
However, Wangchuk alleged that the agreement was broken within minutes.
”I was waiting to collect photographs of leaders from other parties. Within five minutes, one of the senior IB officers walked up to me and said the photographs were already running on television. That was when I realised the understanding had not been honoured,” he recalled.
The activist also rejected allegations that he had struck a ‘midnight deal’ with the government to end his hunger strike.
”If I wanted to make a deal, I could have done it much earlier. I didn’t need to sit on a 26-day hunger strike. I could have asked for much bigger things, even a minister’s post. I had many opportunities if that was my intention,” he said.
Wangchuk said the episode had shaken his faith in political leaders. ”They broke the promise. I’ve lost trust in all these leaders,” he told India Today.
Wangchuk had joined the Abhijeet Dipke-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protest over the NEET issue at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar and began his hunger strike on June 28. After his health deteriorated, he was shifted to Medanta Hospital in Gurugram where Union ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh met him.
Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement on stricter anti-paper leak measures and fast-track action, Wangchuk ended his 26-day fast on July 24. Photographs of the Union ministers offering him soup to break the fast later surfaced, triggering the controversy over the alleged breach of trust.