Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday criticised the removal of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk from Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, where the latter had been on a hunger strike, and accused the Centre of trying to silence voices raising issues affecting students nationwide.
In a post on X, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said the “core tenets” of the Narendra Modi government were “Asatya” (falsehood) and “Hinsa” (violence). “The removal of Sonam Wangchuk ji from Jantar Mantar while he was on a non-violent hunger strike is wrong,” Gandhi said.
Wangchuk has been on a fast since June 28 in support of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led movement, which has raised concerns over alleged irregularities in the NEET examination and the reported deaths of students linked to the controversy. Protest organisers have confirmed that the planned July 20 march to Parliament will go ahead as scheduled. Delhi Police moved Wangchuk to a hospital early on Saturday, citing expert medical advice as well as directions from the Delhi High Court.
Connecting Wangchuk’s protest to broader concerns over the education system, Gandhi said paper leaks, rising education costs and student suicides were among the most urgent challenges facing India’s youth. “No amount of force can deter India’s students, and those of us who love and believe in them, from raising these issues,” he said, using the hashtag #ChhatronKiGoonj.
His comments came a day after Gandhi addressed the ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ rally in Dehradun, where he called for sweeping reforms to India’s education and examination system. He argued that no political party or organisation should have control over educational institutions and pushed for a broad political consensus to address recurring paper leaks.
At the rally, Gandhi alleged that nearly 7.5 crore students had been affected by examination paper leaks, attributing the issue to what he described as a “corrupt system” involving multiple stakeholders including coaching centres, examination centres, paper setters, transporters, the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the Union education ministry.
He further called for an overhaul of the country’s examination system, describing the current model as outdated and overly focused on testing rather than on students themselves. Gandhi said the existing examiner-centric and government-centric approach should give way to a student-centric framework built around secure question banks and technology-enabled, randomised question papers similar to international standardised tests such as the GMAT.
Earlier on Saturday, Gandhi also shared a video from the Dehradun rally, recalling his conversation with Rajesh Kumar, father of Riya Kumari, who died by suicide following the cancellation of the NEET-UG examination in May amid allegations of a paper leak.
Describing it as a tragedy that goes beyond a single family, Gandhi said every student lost to such failures leaves behind parents whose hopes and sacrifices have been shattered. He said the education system needs to be rebuilt “from scratch” to create an environment where children feel secure instead of burdened by stress, and where parents see their sacrifices rewarded rather than met with grief.
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