LEH, 26 Sep: Police on Friday arrested climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, two days after protests demanding Ladakh’s statehood and 6th Schedule status left four people dead and 90 injured in the union territory.
Wangchuk was taken into custody by a police party led by Ladakh Police Chief SD Singh Jamwal at 2:30 pm, officials said, adding that he has been shifted out of Ladakh.
While there was no official word on the charges pressed against Wangchuk, sources within the Ladakh administration indicated that the stringent National Security Act (NSA) has been invoked against the climate activist.
The administration also snapped mobile internet services in the Leh area as a precautionary measure.
Wangchuk, a leading voice for the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), has been spearheading the five-year-long agitation for statehood and constitutional safeguards for the residents of Leh and Kargil, which form part of the Ladakh union territory carved out from erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019.
The Centre has strongly blamed him for inciting the recent violence but Wangchuk denied all the allegations.
“To say it was instigated by me is to find a scapegoat, rather than addressing the core of the problem, and this will lead us nowhere,” Wangchuk said on Thursday, adding that the violence was a symptom of frustrated youths.
The arrest came a day after the Home Ministry cancelled the FCRA licence of the Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL), an organisation founded by Wangchuk, citing alleged financial discrepancies and a fund transfer deemed to be against “national interest.”
Opposition parties slammed the Centre over the arrest of Wangchuk, alleging that the move “clearly exposes the government’s witch-hunting agenda” and it is an “abysmal failure” to maintain law and order in the union territory of Ladakh.
Condemning Wangchuk’s arrest, the Congress said it was done to divert attention and responsibility from the BJP’s “abysmal failure” to maintain law and order and ensure security of life and property in Ladakh.
In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “The Indian National Congress condemns the arrest of noted environmentalist and educationist Sonam Wangchuk under the National Security Act.”
“The crux of the issue is that the BJP has deceived the people of Ladakh for years. It promised the region 6th Schedule status in the 2020 Leh Hill Council elections and has gone back on that promise with a vengeance,” Ramesh said.
The BJP claimed that it gave Ladakh autonomy from the larger Jammu and Kashmir but it has really ended all semblance of democracy in the UT, the Congress leader alleged.
“The Modi government cannot brush these issues away or suppress them by arresting Mr Wangchuk. It needs to engage with the people of Ladakh in sincerity and with alacrity,” Ramesh said.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) Rajya Sabha Deputy Leader Sagarika Ghose alleged that the Narendra Modi government treats any dissent as “antinational” and arrests the dissenters under draconian laws.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said Wangchuk’s arrest was unfortunate and accused the BJP-led NDA government of backtracking on its promises.
“This is unfortunate. The way the central government was after him since yesterday, it seemed they would do something like this,” Abdullah told reporters on the sidelines of a ceremony in Srinagar.
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said Wangchuk’s arrest is “deeply disturbing,” terming the climate activist a lifelong advocate of peace.
“Sonam Wangchuk’s arrest is deeply disturbing. A lifelong advocate of peace, sustainability and truth is being punished merely for demanding that promises be kept,” Mehbooba said in a post on X.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) criticised the BJP-led central government over Wangchuk’s arrest, calling it an attack on democracy and people’s rights.
AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal said that the country is passing through a difficult phase.
Delhi Leader of Opposition Atishi also reacted, saying Wangchuk had been voicing concerns related to Ladakh’s land, environment, identity and voting rights.
CPI (M) Rajya Sabha member John Brittas and CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya were among the left party leaders who condemned the arrest.
Brittas, in a post on X, said the repressive action will only aggravate the situation.
“Strongly condemn the arrest of Sonam Wangchuk and the brutality unleashed on Ladakh’s people, where four lives were tragically lost and many were injured. Such repressive actions will only aggravate the situation, further fueling unrest. Demand an immediate end to this violence, sincere talks with Ladakh’s leaders, and justice with compensation for the grieving families,” Brittas said.
The CPI (ML) Liberation in a statement called the move “outrageous.”
“CPI (ML) Liberation strongly condemns this arrest, which clearly exposes the government’s witch-hunting agenda and its attempt to shift blame for a crisis born of the government’s own betrayal of people’s democratic aspirations and trampling of the Constitution,” the left party said in a statement. (PTI)
