‘Everyone gone, now no hope’: Sonam Wangchuk says CJP leaders wanted to end protest after July 20 crackdown

The protest appeared close to collapse after police dismantled its stage at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on July 20, according to activist Sonam Wangchuk. He said Cockroach Janta Party leaders believed the movement had run out of options and asked him to help prepare a message urging protesters to go home.

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Now everyone has gone, our stage has also been broken, now there is no hope.

“Now everyone has gone, our stage has also been broken, now there is no hope,” Wangchuk recalled the leaders telling him. He said they wanted a message posted telling protesters they needed “a good rest now” and should return home before deciding what to do next. Wangchuk wrote the message, but it was not ultimately published.

Speaking to Prakhar Gupta on the PGX podcast, Wangchuk said the leadership had become deeply disappointed after the crackdown. Organisers believed that the one or two lakh people who had gathered had left that night, leaving the protest effectively over. He recalled their view as: “Now if it starts again sometime, then it starts; otherwise not.”

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They wanted me to post something saying that you need a good rest now, go sleep at home, don't stay at Jantar Mantar, we can see tomorrow what to do.

The mood changed when young protesters began returning to Jantar Mantar the following day. Wangchuk praised those who came back despite facing a lathi-charge, saying their return restored the leadership’s confidence. “The youth did something remarkable,” he said.

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The youth did something remarkable.

Wangchuk described the organisers’ morale as closely tied to the number of people at the site. “The leadership looks at people's faces and their morale sometimes goes up and sometimes goes down,” he said. When protesters left, he said, morale fell. Their return gave the organisers enough confidence to continue.

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The leadership looks at people's faces and their morale sometimes goes up and sometimes goes down.