The Indian climate activist and educator Sonam Wangchuk went viral for his reaction as her departed from Safdarjung Hospital.
On Friday, Wangchuk shared a video on YouTube, a day after ending his 26-day hunger strike. In the video, he reflected on the events since he was brought into the hospital forcefully during his ongoing hunger strike.
In the video, he slammed those questioning his decision to end the hunger strike, adding that people were unaware of the circumstances he faced after being moved from the protest site. He claimed that after being shifted to Safdarjung Hospital on 18 July, he was treated “like a prisoner”. According to him, he was not allowed to move freely, meet visitors, or keep a mobile phone or laptop.
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Recounting the episode, Wangchuk said, “It was like being in North Korea,” and alleged that even after the Delhi High Court approved his transfer to Medanta Hospital. The officials at Safdarjung Hospital prevented him from leaving for several hours. In the video, Wangchuk can be seen getting into a confrontation with a security person at Safdarjung Hospital, alleging that he was being prevented from leaving the premises, news agency PTI reported on Saturday.
Following the allegations, Safdarjung Hospital issued a statement in which they clarified that the video was recorded before its administration received the written order of the High Court. Responding to the video, Safdarjung officials said it was “purportedly recorded” by Wangchuk’s aides inside the hospital on 21 July in a designated no-videography zone and was released only on Friday.
Elaborating further, they mentioned, “The video was reportedly recorded before the hospital administration received the written order of the High Court. At that time, Mr Wangchuk insisted on leaving the hospital based on information available in the media.” In the end, they mentioned, “It is pertinent to note that Mr Wangchuk was handed over to the team of doctors from Medanta Gurugram on the same day at 6:40 pm, immediately after the written order was received by the hospital”.