Sonam Wangchuk, who is spearheading a mass agitation demanding Statehood and Sixth Schedule status for the Union Territory of Ladakh, was detained under the provisions of the National Security Act (NSA) on Friday, two days after police action against violent protests in Leh left four civilians dead. Internet services in Leh were suspended after his detention.
The Leh Apex Body (LAB) stressed that Mr. Wangchuk had not played any role in the violence in Leh on Wednesday. The LAB plans to send a delegation to Delhi on September 29 in a bid to resume talks on Statehood demands with the Union government.
Mr. Wangchuk, 59, was detained by a police team led by Ladakh Director General of Police S.D. Jamwal, according to official sources. Gitanjali Angmo, Mr. Wangchuk’s wife, told The Hindu that she was informed that Mr. Wangchuk was being flown to Jodhpur in Rajasthan.
The detention of the prominent climate activist and Ramon Magsaysay Award recipient came as Leh reeled under a curfew for thesecond straight day.
In Kargil, another major town in Ladakh, the authorities have imposed Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, barring gatherings of more than four people.
Violent protests
The use of the NSA, which allows for a prolonged period in jail, indicatedthat Mr. Wangchuk’s preventive detention was triggered by the recent violent protests in Leh, and not in relation to any of the other cases filed against the activist.
On Wednesday, protesters, mainly youth, had resorted to violence at the BJP headquarters and the Secretariat of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council-Leh. Four civilians were killed and 90 others were injured by the security forces taking action against the protesters.
Chering Dorjey Lakrook, president of the Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA) and co-chairman of the LAB, an umbrella group, said no talks can be held between the LAB and MHA in Leh now because of the pending last rites of the four civilians killed on September 24. They will be cremated on September 28 and 29, the LBA said.
“This narrative that Mr. Wangchuk provoked protesters is wrong. It was the news of two protesters, who were on hunger strike and were hospitalised on September 24, which caused concern among youth,” Mr. Lakrook said.
Growing anger
There is growing anger among religious, political, and civil society bodies in Ladakh over Mr. Wangchuk’s detention. “If Mr. Wangchuk has been arrested for his peaceful agitation, we condemn the same,” said Ladakh MP Haji Hanifa.
