New Delhi: Opposition parties have slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Union government for forcefully picking up Ladakhi climate activist and innovator Sonam Wangchuk on Saturday (July 18) from Jantar Mantar where he, along with student activists from the All India Students’ Association (AISA) were sitting on a hunger strike since the last 21 days demanding the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge termed the incident as “another black stain on democracy and the Constitution.”111 दिन तक माँ गंगा को बचाने के लिए आमरण अनशन पर बैठे प्रो॰ जी डी अग्रवाल हों या हरियाणा की ओलिंपिक रेसलर हों,हमारे 750 अन्नदाता किसान हों, दलित-आदिवासी हों, या फ़िर पेपर लीक की बलि चढ़े 25 बच्चे और उनके परिजन,इस तानाशाह सरकार ने किसी को नहीं बख़्शा…इनकी नज़र में कोई भी…— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) July 18, 2026“Whether it’s Prof. GD Agrawal, who sat on a fast unto death for 111 days to save Mother Ganga, or the Olympic wrestler from Haryana, whether it’s our 750 farmer providers, Dalits and Adivasis, or the 25 children sacrificed to the paper leak and their families, this tyrannical government has spared no one…In their eyes, anyone who raises their voice is an “Anti-National,” a “parasite”!” Kharge wrote on X on Saturday.“The clarion call of “Students’ Echo” has begun from Kota and Dehradun…it will surely reach the thresholds of Delhi!!” he added.Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI (M)) general secretary M.A. Baby said that the development displayed the authoritarian attitude of the Modi government.“Strongly condemn the detention of Sonam Wangchuk and Abhijeet Dipke by the Delhi Police. Instead of sacking the Education Minister under whose nose the scandalous leak of papers happened and dismantling the system that continues to ruin the future of lakhs of students, the government is coming down with a heavy hand on peaceful protesters. This displays the authoritarian attitude of the Modi government,” said Baby in a post on X.Strongly condemn the detention of Sonam Wangchuk and Abhijeet Dipke by the Delhi Police. Instead of sacking the Education Minister under whose nose the scandalous leak of papers happened and dismantling the system that continues to ruin the future of lakhs of students, the…— M A Baby (@MABABYCPIM) July 18, 2026Baby added that silencing dissent cannot be a substitute for accountability.“The forced removal of Sonam Wangchuk is not just an act, but a trampling of democracy and the Constitution. The BJP government no longer tolerates even peaceful protests – this is dictatorship,” wrote Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav on X.Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said that prime minister Narendra Modi had realised that the movement was becoming even bigger in wake of the call to march to the parliament on July 20 and that’s why the commissioner of Delhi police was changed and the Wangchuk was shifted.“These youngsters will end your pride of power. I want to appeal all the youth of the country to support Sonam Wangchuk and don’t let the movement to weaken,” said Singh in a video statement posted on X.Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha said that he had pre-empted that Wangchuk will be shifted.Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose termed the police’s action as “shocking.”“What sort of shocking coercive state violence is this? The morally bankrupt @narendramodi regime only knows how to use the danda. UNACCEPTABLE,” Ghose wrote on X.