India, July 18 -- If you are looking at the impact of the hunger strike by Ladakh's engineer-turned-activist Sonam Wangchuk at the protests organised by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) only through the lens of electoral consequences and conventional impact, that could be a mistake.

As Wangchuk's fast hits its 21st day, I have heard many negative appraisals from political commentators - including from critics of the Narendra-Modi-led government - on how the protesters are naive, unstructured, and political rookies. Analogies have been drawn with the Anna Hazare fast and the India Against Corruption (IAC) movement that birthed the Aam Aadmi Party. It has been pointed out that the UPA-II government was a weak one, mired in scandals when tha...