From Gandhi to Wangchuk: why hunger strikes remain India's long lasting form of moral protest
Sonam Wangchuk, Gandhi, Bhagat Singh: Sonam Wangchuk's indefinite fast enters its 20h day and concerns over his health intensify while Delhi high court mandates immediate health monitoring. His protest however has revived a political tradition that predates Independence. From Gandhi's anti-colonial movement to campaigns for environmental protection and institutional accountability, hunger strikes have remained one of India's most enduring forms of non-violent political persuasion even in 2026.
As Sonam Wangchuk entered the 20th day of his indefinite hunger strike at Delhi's Jantar Mantar on July 17th doctors said he had lost nearly 9 kgs, while a plea seeking medical intervention reached the Delhi High Court on Wednesday. The court directed the government to ensure the health of activist Sonam Wangchuk 19 days into an indefinite hunger strike after joining Cockroach Janata Party protests against Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Wangchuk says his fast seeks an independent probe into alleged irregularities in national examinations, including NEET-UG, greater transparency in the examination system and political accountability and the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.Yet his protest recalls a century-old Indian instrument of moral pressure in India : the hunger strike.
Unlike demonstrations or industrial strikes, fasting derives its political force from voluntary self-sacrifice. Rather than coercing the state, it seeks to compel a response through public conscience—a strategy that has repeatedly shaped India's political discourse.
No leader employed this method more extensively than Mahatma Gandhi, who undertook around 17 major fasts between 1918 and 1948. Beginning with the Ahmedabad mill workers' strike in 1918,Gandhi later fasted for Hindu-Muslim unity and it lasted 21 days, against untouchability, opposition to the British government's Communal Award in 1932 leading to the Poona Pact, and to end communal violence during Partition in 1947. His final fast in Delhi in January 1948 demanded communal harmony and the release of ₹55 crore owed to Pakistan under the Partition settlement. He was assassinated 12 days after ending that fast.
The hunger strike also became a weapon of anti-colonial resistance. In 1923, Kazi Nazrul Islam also observed a 39-day fast in Hooghly Jail against the discriminatory treatment of political prisoners, prompting Rabindranath Tagore to appeal for him to end it. Six years later, Bhagat Singh, Jatin Das and fellow revolutionaries launched a landmark hunger strike in Lahore Jail, demanding political prisoner status, better food, access to books and newspapers, improved sanitation and an end to degrading prison labour. Jatin Das died on the 63rd day, while Bhagat Singh continued the protest for 116 days.
In independent India, the focus shifted from colonial rule to governance and environmental justice. Swami Atmabodhanand's indefinite fast in 2021 sought to protect the Ganga's uninterrupted flow and fragile Himalayan ecology. Wangchuk's 2024 Climate Fast demanded Sixth Schedule status and constitutional safeguards for Ladakh.
His present fast marks another evolution.
The demand is no longer directed at some colonial state, but at democratic institutions. More than a century after Gandhi transformed fasting into a political instrument, hunger strikes continue to test whether governments respond to moral legitimacy with accountability.
