Danish Ali is the Joint Secretary of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) – representing the United Left Panel, which comprises AISA, SFI, and DSF). She is affiliated with the All India Students’ Association (AISA).
Student leader Danish Ali was hospitalised in critical condition on Saturday while on a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi alongside Ladakh-based activist Sonam Wangchuk. The protest, started by Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on 20 June, is demanding Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation over alleged irregularities in NEET and other competitive examinations.
Danish Ali is the Joint Secretary of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) – representing the United Left Panel, which comprises AISA, SFI, and DSF). She is affiliated with the All India Students’ Association (AISA).
Wangchuk joined the protest on hunder strike on 28 June. AISA said Danish Ali was admitted to the hospital for intravenous fluids, while five other activists – Neha, Manish, Hrishikesh, Deepak and Aameen – continued their indefinite hunger strike along with Wangchuk and other protesters.
“Danish Ali has been admitted to RML Hospital after seven days on an indefinite hunger strike (on Saturday). Her blood sugar dropped to a life-threatening 46 mg/dL, requiring emergency hospitalization and IV fluids,” CPIML (Liberation) said in a post on X.
Who Is Danish Ali?
Danish Ali, a PhD scholar at the Centre for Historical Studies (CHS), hails from the small village of Bandarbarru in Narsinghpur district, Madhya Pradesh. She completed her schooling in the nearby town of Gadarwara, where she also emerged as a state-level player in throwball and cricket.
Her father is a retired government school teacher, while her mother currently serves as a principal in a government school.
Danish Ali graduated with a degree in History from SGTB Khalsa College and later joined JNU for her Master’s in the 2022–2024. She is well known for her fiery speeches championing the rights of marginalised communities, including Dalits, Muslims, and Adivasis.
In the JNUSU election held in November 2025, Danish Alisecured a decisive victory in the Joint Secretary race, winning 1,991 votes and extending Left Unity’s clean sweep.
Day 15 of CJP Protest
The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)’s protest at Jantar Mantar entered its 15th day on Saturday, drawing fresh political support from AAP MP Sanjay Singh and CPI(M) MP John Brittas, while climate activist Sonam Wangchuk continued the seventh day of his hunger strike.
CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke earlier said Wangchuk had lost five kilograms and that his condition was worsening with each passing day.
“How much longer will the Prime Minister wait before sacking Dharmendra Pradhan?” Dipke asked in a post on X, adding that if anything happened to Wangchuk, the government would be responsible.
The CJP also released an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to break what it called his “resounding silence” over the agitation and hold Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan accountable for alleged examination paper leaks and student suicides.
The letter said Wangchuk’s hunger strike was intended to exert “moral pressure” on the government and questioned why there had been no response despite 15 days of protests.
“How much longer will the Prime Minister wait before sacking Dharmendra Pradhan?” – Abhijeet Dipke
The protest, which began on June 20 over alleged irregularities in examinations including NEET, has drawn support from a wide cross-section of political leaders and civil society members, including M A Baby, Brinda Karat, D Raja, Annie Raja, Dipankar Bhattacharya, Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan, Anjali Bhardwaj, Nikhil Dey, Sagarika Ghose and Mahua Moitra.
(With agency inputs)
About the Author
Gulam Jeelani
Gulam Jeelani is Political Desk Editor at LiveMint with over 16 years of experience covering national and international politics. Based in New Delhi, Jeelani delivers impactful political narratives through breaking stories, in-depth interviews, and analytical pieces at LiveMint since February 2024. The expertise in video production fuels his current responsibilities, which include curating content and conducting video interviews for an expanding digital audience.
Jeelani also travels during elections and key political events and has covered assembly elections in key states apart from national elections. He has previously worked with The Pioneer, Network18, India Today, News9Plus and Hindustan Times.
Jeelani’s tenure at LiveMint and previous experience at print and digital newsrooms have honed his skills in creating compelling text and video stories, explainers, and analysis that resonate with a diverse viewership.
Before moving to New Delhi in 2015, Jeelani was based in Uttar Pradesh, where he worked for five years as a reporter. In 2018, Jeelani was one of the two Indian journalists selected for the Alfred Friendly Fellowship in the US. There, he attended training workshops on reporting and data journalism, and he was attached to the Minneapolis Star Tribune in Minnesota, where he worked as a reporter.
Jeelani is a Bachelor’s in Chemistry and holds a Masters Degree in journalism and mass communication from Aligarh Muslim University. Outside work, he enjoys poetry, cricket and movies.
