SRINAGAR: Climate Activist Sonam Wangchuk has released a video describing his experience at Safdarjung Hospital, alleging he was prevented from leaving the facility after the Delhi High Court permitted his transfer to Medanta Hospital in Gurugram. Safdarjung Hospital, however, said the footage had been recorded before it received the court’s written order.
The video, uploaded on YouTube late on Friday, shows Wangchuk in a confrontation with a security official at the hospital. In the footage, he alleges that he was being stopped from leaving and says authorities should either arrest him or allow him to go.
“You are harassing me… If I die of stress, it will be your responsibility,” Wangchuk is heard saying in the video. In another clip, he says, “Arrest me if you want, but I am leaving.”
Responding to the video, Safdarjung Hospital said it was “purportedly recorded” by Wangchuk’s aides inside the hospital on July 21 in a designated no-videography zone and was released only on Friday.
The hospital administration said the recording was made before it received the Delhi High Court’s written order permitting Wangchuk’s transfer to Medanta Hospital. According to the hospital, Wangchuk had sought to leave based on media reports about the court’s decision.
Safdarjung Hospital said Wangchuk was handed over to a team of doctors from Medanta Gurugram at 6:40 pm on July 21 immediately after the written order reached the hospital.
Delhi Police had shifted Wangchuk to Safdarjung Hospital on July 18 from the protest site at Jantar Mantar, where he had been on a hunger strike since June 28 in support of the Cockroach Janta Party’s demands, including accountability for examination paper leaks and the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Following the Delhi High Court’s direction, Wangchuk was transferred to Medanta Hospital on July 21.
He ended his hunger strike late on Thursday night at Medanta Hospital in the presence of his wife, Gitanjali Angmo, and Union Ministers J P Nadda and Jitendra Singh. Wangchuk said he decided to call off the fast after receiving assurances from the government and Members of Parliament across party lines regarding his demands for examination reforms and protection of peaceful protesters.
