LEH, 5 Oct: Jailed activist Sonam Wangchuk has appealed to the people of Ladakh to maintain peace and unity and continue with the ongoing struggle for statehood and safeguards under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution in the true Gandhian way of non-violence, his lawyer said on Sunday.
Wangchuk conveyed the message through the legal adviser of the Leh Apex Body, Haji Mustafa, who along with the activist’s elder brother Ka Tsetan Dorjey Ley, met him at Jodhpur jail in Rajasthan on Saturday.
Wangchuk said that unless there is an independent judicial inquiry into the killing of the four people during the 24 September violence, “I am prepared to stay in jail.”
He was detained on 26 September in Leh under the stringent National Security Act (NSA), two days after violent protests demanding statehood and Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh left four people dead and scores of others injured in the union territory. Authorities have accused Wangchuk of inciting the violence.
The Supreme Court is slated to hear on Monday a plea filed by Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali J Angmo, challenging the climate activist’s detention under the NSA and seeking his immediate release.
Mustafa posted Wangchuk’s “message” on his personal social media accounts, including X and Facebook, on Sunday after meeting the activist.
“I am doing well, both physically and mentally, and thank everyone for their concern and prayers. My heartfelt condolences to the families of those people who lost their lives and my prayers with people who are injured and are arrested,” Wangchuk said.
He said there should be an independent judicial inquiry into the killing of the four people. Unless that is done, “I am prepared to stay in jail,” he said.
“I stand firmly with Apex Body and the KDA and the people of Ladakh in our genuine constitutional demand for Sixth Schedule and statehood and whatever actions Apex Body takes in the interest of Ladakh, I am with them, wholeheartedly.
“I appeal (to) people to keep peace and unity and continue our struggle peacefully – in the true Gandhian way of non-violence,” Wangchuk said.
The Ladakh administration had ordered a magisterial probe into the violence, but the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) and the Leh Apex Body (LAB), who are spearheading the agitation, have decided to stay away from talks with the Centre scheduled for 6 October till a judicial inquiry is ordered and all those detained, including Wangchuk, are released. (PTI)
