Hunger strike explained: Why Wangchuk threatens an indefinite fast

A hunger strike is a protest in which a person refuses food to press a demand.

Wangchuk has threatened an indefinite fast if detainees are not released unconditionally.

The deadline is the morning of October 11.

A foot march to Delhi is the second threat.

The government has not responded in the reports.

Wangchuk is in Ladakh, according to the reports.

Wangchuk called the crackdown an attack on constitutional rights, according to The Week.

Wangchuk said that suppressing peaceful, democratic voices is a direct assault on the Constitution.

Delhi Police detained hundreds of people on October 10 as the Cockroach Janta Party’s protest at Jantar Mantar was blocked.

Opposition leaders including Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal were also detained, and reports said some were released by evening.

The CJP’s founder and two leaders were detained at Delhi airport, and the party said that it lost contact with them for about 10 hours.

Counts of those detained range from hundreds to more than 7,000 in different reports and could not be reconciled.

Delhi Police has not publicly commented on the detentions, according to PTI.

The UN human rights office said that it was concerned by reports of mass detentions and urged the release of anyone arbitrarily detained.

The INDIA bloc submitted a memorandum to President Droupadi Murmu on October 9 listing its demands to end the agitation against the Chief Election Commissioner.

The INDIA bloc has planned a mega protest on October 12, according to reports.

The CJP plans to march to Jantar Mantar again on Sunday, October 11.

The Supreme Court will hear a contempt plea over Delhi Metro closures on Sunday, October 11.

Wangchuk has separately given the government a one-year deadline on Ladakh’s political demands, which is a different matter.

A hunger strike is a protest in which a person refuses food to press a demand.

Leh, Ladakh (representative image), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0