Protect students, hear their concerns: Wangchuk’s wife

Gitanjali Angmo urged people not to blame peaceful student protesters without evidence, saying their concerns deserve to be heard. She criticised narratives portraying students negatively and called for protecting their voices amid the ongoing CJP-led agitation

New Delhi: Activist Sonam Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali Angmo, on Thursday said it was “deeply painful” to see students being portrayed negatively and questioned why it was “easier to question their intentions than to hear their concerns”, amid allegations of violence during the Cockroach Janta Party’s (CJP) ‘Sansad Chalo’ march.

In a post on X, Angmo, co-founder of the Himalayan Institute of Alternatives Ladakh (HIAL), appealed against linking the ongoing student protest at Jantar Mantar to incidents of violence elsewhere in Delhi without evidence, saying the movement had remained peaceful.

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“As an educator, I find it deeply painful to watch the image of our students being tarnished on media,” she said in a post on X. “The students’ protest is taking place peacefully at Jantar Mantar. If there are reports of violence elsewhere in Delhi, please do not rush to attribute them to this movement without evidence,” she said.

Angmo credited the protesters with having “extraordinary patience, discipline and restraint”, and stressed that the need is to listen to their concerns.

“I often wonder: what kind of system is so quick to distrust its own students? Why is it easier to question their intentions than to hear their concerns?” Angmo said. “Our children deserve to be protected, not portrayed as villains. Their voices deserve to be heard, not drowned out by narratives that serve vested interests,” she said.

Her remarks came after the July 20 ‘Sansad Chalo’ march during which Delhi Police stopped thousands of protesters from marching towards Parliament using tear gas and baton charges.

In the aftermath of the crackdown, CJP leaders alleged that attempts were being made to portray the student movement as violent and to link it with incidents elsewhere in the national capital. The allegations were rejected by the police.

The CJP-led agitation began on June 20, demanding accountability over alleged irregularities in competitive examinations, reforms in the education system and the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Wangchuk, who joined the agitation on June 28 and has been on an indefinite hunger strike since then, is currently admitted to Medanta Hospital in Gurugram. He has offered to end his fast if the Centre assures that no punitive action will be taken against peaceful protesters who participated in the movement.