Sonam Wangchuk.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: ‘Delhi Chalo Padayatra’ led by climate activist Sonam Wangchuk seeking Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh was interrupted at Delhi border with the police detaining activists citing prohibitory orders. This prompted them to start an indefinite fast in custody on Tuesday.
58-year-old Wangchuk, who was immortalised in Amir Khan-starrer 3 Idiots, was leading a group of around 150 people from Leh in the ‘yatra’ that was to culminate at Raj Ghat.
Opposition, including Congress, AAP and CPI(M), condemned the police action with top leader Rahul Gandhi saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have to listen to Ladakh's voice.
The march that began a month ago is organised by the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), which are spearheading an agitation for the past four years demanding statehood for Ladakh and separate Lok Sabha seats for Leh and Kargil districts. The Sixth Schedule provides for the administration of some tribal areas as autonomous entities.
As the group was being detained late Monday night, Wangchuk posted on Instagram visuals of their buses being stopped at Delhi border. In the post, he said he initially thought that a number of police vehicles accompanying them were providing them security but he found out later that they were going to be detained.
Officials said Wangchuk and others were detained at the Delhi border for violating prohibitory orders and were taken to police stations, including Bawana, Narela Industrial Area and Alipur. Police said they tried to convince the protesters to return as Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which prohibits assembly of five or more people, is imposed in the capital.
Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, who went to meet Wangchuk, was stopped outside the Bawana Police Station.
Responding to the detention, Rahul said, “why are elderly citizens being detained at Delhi’s border for standing up for Ladakh’s future? Modi ji, like with the farmers, this ‘Chakravyuh’ will be broken, and so will your arrogance. You will have to listen to Ladakh’s voice.”
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the “arrogance of the Modi government, consumed in power, has detained a group of citizens from Ladakh peacefully marching to Delhi. This is nothing but a cowardly action, and is deeply undemocratic in nature. In Ladakh, there is a growing wave of public support, with widespread calls for safeguarding tribal communities under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.”
“Instead, the Modi government wants to exploit the ecologically sensitive Himalayan glaciers of Ladakh to benefit its crony friends. This incident tells us that the fight against the Modi government's brazen despotism is far from over,” he added.
Senior CPI(M) leader Yusuf Tarigami condemned the detention in “no uncertain terms” and said scuttling the peaceful 'padayatra' reflects the government's “utter disregard” for democratic freedom.
Senior BJP leader Ravishankar Prasad described the Congress' condemnation as "hypocrisy in extreme". "I don't know the facts (about detention. I will have to check the facts...If Rahul Gandhi has a comment to make, why (does) he maintain a conspicuous silence when cartoonists are lifted in Kolkata and a satirist is jailed in Tamil Nadu," he said. (ENDS)