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People are out on the streets – in Delhi, in Mumbai, in Shantiniketan, and in Jaipur. They are seething with a searing anger. It is an anger directed at a regime swollen with its own hubris. The grotesque sight of the state bouncers swathing a frail, fasting Sonam Wangchuk in white sheets, only to make him disappear from Jantar Mantar, struck a deep nerve in them. In that moment, citizens witnessed the unvarnished, brute power of an arrogant state descending upon the defenceless body of an individual who was only punishing himself – all while pleading with the state to own the structural ruin of our educational system. They watched his body waste away day by day; they endured the chilling, cruel silence of the state; and finally, they witnessed his abduction. Before their very eyes, power had bared its fangs.

Yet this was not merely the humiliation of Sonam Wangchuk; the people experienced it as a direct assault upon themselves. It jolted them out of a long slumber. Or perhaps the storm that had been quietly gathering in their hearts for years finally burst open.

Now, they no longer care whether the government sends a representative to negotiate with them. They are marching, raising their voices, and asserting through their presence that they exist – that they matter.

Sonam Wangchuk ought to have recognised that the moment had surpassed him. He was no longer the central issue. The people were actively reclaiming their lost rights, their stolen autonomy. His duty was to offer them his gratitude for stepping into the public square, for breaking their silence, and then to bring his fast to an end. But he remains convinced that he is the indispensable axis around which this struggle turns.

His wife, Geetanjali Angmo, announced a condition last night for him to break his fast: political leaders must present themselves to him and guarantee that education will be debated in the ongoing session of Parliament.

She left the phrase “political leaders” ambiguous and undefined. Until yesterday, the moral appeal was addressed squarely to the government. Whence comes this sudden shift in target? When she demands the presence of political leaders, does she include the figures of the Bharatiya Janata Party? Or is she addressing herself solely to the opposition? Would the arrival of a few minor allies of the ruling coalition satisfy the demand? Would a solitary figure or two suffice? And if they fail to appear, are we to be treated, once again, to that tired, sanctimonious lament that the entire political class is equally........

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