Sonam Wangchuk, the Indian activist better known as "Sonam sir," has ended his 26-day hunger strike after the government assured him that no legal action would be taken against protesters at the Jantar Mantar site. Wangchuk, 59, had lost 11kg (24lb) but was reportedly "still alive" - a condition that seems to have been a key negotiating point.

Wangchuk began his strike in support of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a youth-led protest movement demanding education reforms and the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The CJP, whose members affectionately call themselves cockroaches, emerged in May as an online satirical movement after a key medical entrance exam was cancelled due to a paper leak. Because nothing says "we demand accountability" like adopting the name of a resilient household pest.

Wangchuk was forcibly removed from a protest venue in Delhi last Saturday and taken to hospital, where he was visited by India's state and health ministers. In a post on X, he said he ended the strike "after a long negotiation on various conditions" and to avert "possible violence in the country." The government, perhaps sensing that a dead activist would be bad press, blinked first.

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke expressed relief that Wangchuk had ended his fast but made it clear the cockroaches aren't scurrying away just yet: "The Cockroach Janta Party's peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar will continue until Dharmendra Pradhan resigns." Meanwhile, mass protests in the Indian capital continue, following a brutal police crackdown on a march to parliament that left scores injured on both sides.

The CJP has become one of India's most visible youth movements, proving that if you make enough noise - and refuse to die - people start to listen.