By MANISH ANAND
Three parallel developments—Wangchuk ending his fast, CJP agreeing to talks, and PM Modi promising stringent anti-paper leak measures—signal movement but not a resolution to the nationwide student protest.
New Delhi, July 24, 2026 — In a major breakthrough in the ongoing student protest, activist Sonam Wangchuk ended his indefinite fast on Friday in the presence of Union Ministers J.P. Nadda and Jitendra Singh at the Medanta Hospital in Gurugram. At the same time, the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) announced that its leaders will hold talks with the government at the Constitution Club in New Delhi. Besides, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a reel shared on X announced that “the Union Cabinet in its meeting will decide on stringent measures against cases of paper leaks.”
Taken together, the three parallel developments do not conclusively suggest an early end to the ongoing student protest. The CJP remains firm on its demand for the resignation of Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan. Wangchuk’s conditions for ending his fast had not included Pradhan’s resignation. The Prime Minister has also spoken of a deliberation on a legislative proposal, a bill, to bring stringent provisions against cases of paper leaks in his video message. He has not mentioned on the CJP demand for Pradhan’s resignation.
It appears that while the CJP protest exploded into a spontaneous mass movement across the country after the police forcibly removed Wangchuk from Jantar Mantar, they don’t seem to be on a common page on the trajectory of the protest movement.
Wangchuk in his statement stated that the “government agreed to his demands that no police case be filed against peaceful protestors, parliament discuss the cases of paper leaks and adequate compensation be provided to families which reported cases of deaths by suicide due to exam paper leaks.”
The CJP on the other hand has made Pradhan’s resignation a pivot around which the protest movement has evolved. The CJP and Wangchuk also seem to have different views on the protest of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
While the CJP protest exploded after Wangchuk’s forced removal from Jantar Mantar, political observers argue that the people have taken over the agitation now. It may become a daunting task for the CJP leaders to call off the agitation on terms of Wangchuk.
The Prime Minister’s promise of stringent measures and fast-track courts will also not give instant solutions as desired by protestors on the street. They will possibly not yield until an instant gratification in terms of the resignation of Pradhan.
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