An open letter to Sonam Wangchuk from a journalist

Satish Verma, a journalist with 20 years in mainstream Hindi media, pens a letter to Sonam Wangchuk.

Respected Sonam Wangchuk Ji,

We do not want history to quote you like Anna Hazare. But the way you gave in to the government late on Thursday night was not right. What compulsion led you to do so is unknown. Many people expected this from the beginning, but I was living with the belief that you would not give up without making the government bend.

The sadness is not just that you bowed down, but now you have started speaking the government's language. You said that you are breaking the fast in view of the possibility of violence at the national level. You even said that everyone needs to be cautious. How did the students' movement and protest suddenly seem violent to you? These are words usually spoken by editors, journalists, and anchors of government-sponsored corporate media (godi media). How did this change of heart happen?

Were you part of the movement with this objective in mind? Many people have even started saying that you were compromised from the beginning.

It is surprising that the points of discussion and agreement were read out by Minister JP Nadda. Some leaders of the Leh-Ladakh Council were also with you on this occasion. Interestingly, Abhijit Deepke, the founder of CJP, was not present at the site to break the fast, but he described it as "pleasant".

The thousands of students who were sitting at Jantar Mantar day and night, in sun and rain, without caring about the scolding from family members and the police batons, had their hopes shattered in an instant. You have hurt the very essence of the movement. The soul of any movement lies in its core demand. Thousands of students, including you, and even Abhijit Deepke of the Cockroach Janata Party and his supporters, were demanding that you would not break the fast until the Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned. You might remember how many tactics this government used during the farmers' movement. Many conspiracies were hatched to weaken and puncture the movement, but ultimately the government had to concede and repeal the three black laws related to farmers. However, it is a different matter that several months after the movement ended, the government suddenly repealed the three black laws to gain political advantage in the elections.

Your stature and the list of your good deeds are so long that it is hard to believe that you have been compromised or that you were merely a pawn of the Bharatiya Janata Party like Anna Hazare. Or do you have any ambition regarding entry into the politics of Leh-Ladakh?

Awaiting your response,

Satish Verma

(These are the author's personal views)