Sonam Wangchuk Reveals CJP Leaders Considered Ending Protest After Jantar Mantar Crackdown

Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk has revealed that leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) were considering ending their protest after a police crackdown at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on July 20, when the protest stage was dismantled and a large number of demonstrators left the site.

Speaking to Prakhar Gupta on the PGX podcast, Wangchuk said the crackdown left the CJP leadership deeply demoralised. He claimed organisers even approached him to draft a message asking protesters to leave Jantar Mantar, return home and take a break.

“Now everyone has gone, our stage has also been broken, now there is no hope,” Wangchuk recalled the CJP leadership telling him after the July 20 action.

According to Wangchuk, organisers wanted him to post a message telling protesters they were exhausted and should return home.

“They wanted me to post something saying that you need a good rest now, go sleep at home, don’t stay at Jantar Mantar, we can see tomorrow what to do,” he said.

Wangchuk said he drafted the message but it was ultimately never posted.

CJP leadership was ‘very disappointed’

Wangchuk said the scale of the police action and the departure of protesters initially convinced the organisers that the movement had effectively collapsed.

“Everyone thought that whatever one or two lakh people had come, they had all left that night, so everything was over,” he said.

He recalled that the leadership had reached a point where it was uncertain whether the protest would ever resume.

“Now if it starts again sometime, then it starts; otherwise not,” Wangchuk recalled.

The situation, however, changed the following day when young protesters began returning to Jantar Mantar.

Their return, Wangchuk said, helped revive the morale of the organisers and convinced them that the movement still had support.

‘The youth did something remarkable’

Wangchuk credited the young protesters who returned despite the police action, including those who had allegedly faced lathi-charge.

“The youth did something remarkable,” he said.

He explained that the morale of the CJP leadership was closely linked to the number of people participating in the protest.

“The leadership looks at people’s faces and their morale sometimes goes up and sometimes goes down,” Wangchuk said.

“When they left, it had gone down. When the youth came back the next day, their morale went up.”

Wangchuk said the protesters who returned after the stage had been dismantled ultimately gave the organisers the confidence to continue the agitation.

“I would give credit to those youth who came back after everything had been broken, even after being hit with lathis, because they boosted their morale too,” he said.

Protest leaders considered ways to end agitation

Wangchuk’s account also sheds light on the uncertainty within the protest camp before the government initiated talks.

He said the organisers had discussed several possible ways of bringing the agitation to an end, including seeking Opposition intervention to break his hunger strike.

According to Wangchuk, the initial plan was to approach Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and ask him to break the fast in Parliament. However, he said efforts to establish contact with Gandhi’s side did not yield a favourable response.

The government subsequently opened communication with Wangchuk through Intelligence Bureau officials.

On the night of July 21, Union ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh met Wangchuk at the hospital and urged him to end his hunger strike.

Wangchuk said he initially put forward demands that included accountability through resignations, compensation and a parliamentary discussion on long-term solutions.

He later identified protection of protesting students from FIRs and possible legal harassment as his key non-negotiable demand.

CJP continued protest after Wangchuk ended fast

Despite the uncertainty following the July 20 crackdown, Wangchuk said the decision by CJP leaders to continue the agitation after his hunger strike ultimately proved worthwhile.

He said he was unaware while undergoing treatment at the hospital that protesters were returning to Jantar Mantar.

Once crowds began returning in significant numbers, Wangchuk said the CJP’s core group regained confidence and decided to continue the movement.

After Wangchuk’s fast was broken, the group continued demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Wangchuk said he supported the demand because, regardless of whether a resignation would immediately improve the education system, it would represent accountability for the events surrounding the protest.

He described the outcome as a limited success, saying there had been some accountability and government responsiveness, although he did not see evidence of a major transformation in the education system.