24 hours on, Sonam Wangchuk still under police detention; CM not allowed to meet him

Delhi Police had detained the protesters for allegedly violating prohibitory orders that were passed a fewer hours earlier the contingent reached Delhi’s borderline connected Monday.

Speaking to The Indian Express, a protester said, “We were detained past nighttime astir 10 p.m. from Singhu borderline portion we were travelling successful a autobus to Delhi… There are radical of each property groups, including young students… We bash not adjacent person a alteration of clothes.”

Delhi Chief Minister Atishi tried to conscionable Wangchuk astatine the constabulary presumption but was not allowed to enter. Atishi took to X connected Tuesday day and launched an onslaught connected Lieutenant-Governor V K Saxena, who is liable for instrumentality and bid and policing successful Delhi.

Ladakh-based clime activistic Sonam Wangchuk (Express Photo)

“I reached Bawana constabulary presumption to conscionable Sonam Wangchuk ji and 150 brothers and sisters of Ladakh. Delhi constabulary did not fto maine conscionable them. It is being said that L-G sahab called and said so… This dictatorship is not right. Sonam Wangchuk ji and the radical of Ladakh are besides warring against L-G rule, warring to get afloat statehood presumption for Ladakh. The radical of Delhi basal with the radical of Ladakh. L-G regularisation should extremity successful Ladakh, L-G regularisation should besides extremity successful Delhi,” she wrote.

Wangchuk’s march aims to rise consciousness astir clime alteration and its impact, peculiarly successful the Himalayas and the Ladakh region. He has besides demanded Sixth Schedule presumption for Ladakh, a Union Territory. The Sixth Schedule pertains to the medication of tribal areas successful the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram arsenic “autonomous districts and autonomous regions”.

Extending enactment to Wangchuk’s origin of demanding statehood for Ladakh, Opposition leaders similar Congress’s Rahul Gandhi and AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal drew parallels betwixt the activists’ detention and the farmers who were stopped astatine the Delhi borders during the workplace instrumentality protests.

Kejriwal, successful a statement, said, “Sometimes farmers are stopped from entering Delhi, and different times it’s the radical of Ladakh. Is Delhi someone’s idiosyncratic property? Delhi is the nation’s capital, and everyone has the close to travel here. This is wholly wrong. What are they truthful acrophobic of from unarmed, peaceful people?”

Gandhi called the detention “unacceptable”. “The detention of Sonam Wangchuk ji and hundreds of Ladakhis peacefully marching for biology and law rights is unacceptable. Why are aged citizens being detained astatine Delhi’s borderline for lasting up for Ladakh’s future?” helium posted connected X.

The Leader of Opposition successful the Lok Sabha besides criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Modi ji, similar with the farmers, this chakravyuh volition beryllium broken, and truthful volition your arrogance. You volition person to perceive to Ladakh’s voice,” helium wrote.

The BJP, meanwhile, described the Congress’ condemnation arsenic “hypocrisy successful extreme”. Senior BJP person Ravi Shankar said, “I don’t cognize the facts. I volition person to cheque the facts… If Rahul Gandhi has a remark to make, wherefore (does) helium support a conspicuous soundlessness erstwhile cartoonists are picked up successful Kolkata and a satirist is jailed successful Tamil Nadu?”

A Jadavpur University prof and his neighbour were arrested successful West Bengal successful 2012 for posting connected societal media a cartoon showing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. In 2017, a freelance cartoonist was arrested successful Tamil Nadu for allegedly depicting the past main curate K Palaniswami successful an obscene mode successful a caricature.

On Monday, the constabulary had imposed curbs connected gatherings of implicit 5 persons betwixt until October 5 successful 3 districts — North, Central and New Delhi — on with each constabulary presumption jurisdictions connected Delhi’s borders, citing “communal tensions” implicit the Waqf Amendment Bill and elections successful Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir, among different things.