A delegation of Opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) led by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh was on Wednesday stopped by the police from meeting Sonam Wangchuk to urge him to end his indefinite hunger strike. The MPs had sought to hand over a letter signed by 55 parliamentarians appealing to him to call off his fast and continue his movement, but were denied permission on the grounds of medical protocol.
Questioning the BJP Government’s actions, the AAP MP revealed the High Court has already made it clear that Sonam Wangchuk is not in police detention, yet Opposition MPs were prevented from meeting him. The appeal was jointly signed by MPs from the Samajwadi Party, Aam Aadmi Party, Trinamool Congress, CPI(M), Shiv Sena (UBT), DMK, RJD, BJD, ASP, CPI, National Conference and JMM, who said Sonam Wangchuk’s life is invaluable to the nation.
Senior AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said, “Fifty five Members of Parliament have jointly appealed to Sonam Wangchuk regarding his health. Sonam Wangchuk’s life is extremely important for this country and its youth, and therefore we request him to end his hunger strike. The Opposition parties will continue to raise his issues from the streets to Parliament. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has also supported this appeal.”
He continued, “When there is a clear court order stating that Sonam Wangchuk is not in custody, preventing us from meeting him amounts to direct contempt of the court’s order and a violation of the privileges of MPs. I told the officials present there that this is a conspiracy by the dictators sitting at the top, who are refusing to let us meet him despite the court’s order. The people will certainly give these dictators a fitting reply.”
Condemning the administration’s actions, the AAP MP said, “Look at the extent of this dictatorship. For the first time in history, the police are preventing people from meeting a patient admitted to a hospital. We had come to meet Sonam Wangchuk, who is hospitalised, but the administration stopped us citing medical protocol. Fifty five MPs have signed a letter, which we wanted to hand over to Sonam Wangchuk while requesting him to end his hunger strike. Sonam Wangchuk himself had said that if the country’s MPs assured him, he could end his hunger strike.”
Questioning the government and the administration, he asked, “Do they want Sonam Wangchuk to die? Why else are they not even allowing us to hand over the letter or meet him?”
Drawing a comparison with BJP leaders, Sanjay Singh asserted, “On one hand, the administration is preventing so many Opposition Members of Parliament from meeting him in the hospital. On the other hand, leaders such as J.P. Nadda and Jitendra Singh have already visited the hospital and met Sonam Wangchuk. Opposition MPs have come only to appeal to Sonam Wangchuk to end his hunger strike, but the movement in support of his demands will continue.”
