NEW DELHI, 6 Oct: Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk on Sunday sat on a fast at the Ladakh Bhavan, where he was staying after the protesters were denied permission to stage the stir for Ladakh’s 6th Schedule status at Jantar Mantar.
Wangchuk, in a brief interaction with the media before starting the fast, said they were forced to stage the protest at the Ladakh Bhavan after failing to find any venue for their stir.
The climate activist said he has been in a “virtual detention” at the Ladakh Bhavan since they were released by the Delhi Police on the night of 2 October. On Sunday, he stepped out of the Ladakh Bhavan at around 4 pm and announced that he was going to sit on a fast.
Soon after, he, and others, sat close to the gate of the Ladakh Bhavan, which has been turned into a fortress with police deployment and limited entries being allowed.
The climate activist, who led a march to Delhi demanding 6th schedule status for Ladakh, said they were assured of a meeting with top leadership -president, prime minister, or home minister – but they have not yet been given an appointment, forcing them to sit on a fast.
“When we ended our hunger strike at Rajghat on 2 October, it was on the basis of the assurance that we would get an appointment from the home ministry to meet the country’s senior leaders. We just want to meet our politicians, get assurance and return to Ladakh,” Wangchuk told PTI.
“We were told that we would be given appointments with the president, PM and home minister by 4 October. We even called off a ‘jan sabha’ (public meeting) that we were to hold at Rajghat because we did not want any clash,” he said.
Wangchuk said, “We just wanted assurance from our leaders and then return to Ladakh. However, it was not carried out after we vacated Rajghat and put an end to our hunger strike. So, we were forced to once again observe a hunger strike.”
He said that when police told them that protest at Jantar Mantar is allowed only between 10 am to 5 pm, they were ready for it.
“We even said we can sit at Jantar Mantar from 10 am to 5 pm and then we’ll relocate to a designated place, but they rejected that as well. We asked them to give us any place that they find appropriate but we were not given any venue.
“So we thought that this is the bhavan of the people of Ladakh where I was in virtual detention, though it was not full detention. So we thought that, since we are not being allowed to go out, we will sit on protest here,” he told PTI.
Wangchuk said that he and several protesters walked over 1,000 kms over 32 days to Delhi to meet the country’s leadership. “Many padyatris have left, but still there are many, including women, old people and former soldiers, who want to meet the leaders,” he said.
Asserting that the Gandhian protest would continue, he said, “We are following the path shown by Gandhi and we will continue our peaceful protest. We are sitting on a fast.”
Around 18 people, including Wangchuk, sat close to the gate of the Ladakh Bhavan, singing the Hindi version of ‘We shall overcome’ and raised slogans such as “Bharat mata ki jai,” “Jai Ladakh,” and “Save Ladakh, save Himalaya.”
On Sunday morning, Wangchuk took to X to say that they have been denied permission to sit on a fast at Jantar Mantar.
“Another rejection, another frustration. Finally this morning we got this rejection letter for the officially designated place for protests,” Wangchuk said.
The climate activist led the ‘Delhi Chalo Padayatra’, which began in Leh a month ago.
The march was organised by the Leh Apex Body, which along with the Kargil Democratic Alliance, has been spearheading an agitation for the last four years seeking statehood for Ladakh, its inclusion in the 6th Schedule of the Constitution, a public service commission for Ladakh, and separate Lok Sabha seats for Leh and Kargil districts.
On Saturday, a majority of the protesters returned to Ladakh, while the remaining stayed back to join Wangchuk for the fast. (PTI)
