Last Updated on August 5, 2026 11:55 pm by INDIAN AWAAZ
Staff Reporter / New Delhi
Climate activist and education reform advocate Sonam Wangchuk has alleged that the government breached an understanding by releasing photographs of his meeting with Union Ministers J.P. Nadda and Jitendra Singh after he ended his 26-day hunger strike, saying the episode has eroded his trust in political leaders.
In an interview with India Today Consulting Editor Rajdeep Sardesai, Wangchuk claimed that ministers had agreed not to release images of the midnight meeting until Opposition leaders and student representatives were also included in a joint announcement.
“The ministers had got their own photographers. They pledged to me they wouldn’t release it. They broke the promise,” Wangchuk said.
He alleged that senior Intelligence Bureau officials present during the meeting were witnesses to the agreement. According to him, within minutes of the meeting, he was informed that the photographs had already appeared on television channels.
Wangchuk rejected claims of making a “midnight deal” with the government, saying he had several opportunities to negotiate earlier but chose to continue his protest. “If I wanted to make deals, I had many opportunities,” he said.
Wangchuk had begun his hunger strike on June 28 at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar over student-related issues and ended it after 26 days following health concerns and talks with government representatives. Photographs of ministers offering him soup during the fast-breaking ceremony later surfaced, triggering his criticism.