Will go on a fast if top leadership from the Union govt. fails to meet us, says Sonam Wangchuk  

Climate activist, who along with 150 protesters, is seeking constitutional safeguards for Ladakh, said if there is democracy at the grass roots, then local people get to manage their environment

Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk was released on Friday (October 4, 2024) after remaining in police detention for five days. Mr. Wangchuk along with 150 protestors from Ladakh were detained on September 30 based on prohibitory orders issued by the police, hours before the group approached Singhu on the Delhi-Haryana border. The protesters started from Leh on September 1 and the march to demand constitutional safeguards for Ladakh was to culminate on October 2 at Rajghat in Delhi. The Delhi leg of the march was curtailed. Mr. Wangchuk’s movements were restricted and he was confined to the government guest house even though the Union Government on October 3 informed the Delhi High Court that he was not in detention.

Ladakh became a Union Territory without a Legislative Assembly on August 5, 2019 after special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution was read down by the Parliament. Mr. Wangchuk spoke with The Hindu after being released from police detention. Edited excerpts:

Why were you detained on September 30? Has the Delhi Police shared the reason with you?

It was very strange. We did not get the prohibitory orders when we boarded the bus, it was when we were very close to Delhi that somebody showed me the order on WhatsApp. There were reports that we violated the orders knowingly, specially on Republic TV. I do not know any such system where people in a bus are told that now you are prohibited and when you get down you are arrested. That is like jungle law.

Had you applied for permission before arriving in Delhi?

We had applied for a permission, there was no ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. We were not planning to make a ruckus or shout slogans, we were here just to walk. Therefore, there was no reason to fear that you get down. On the bus, when we were two hours from Delhi, we got this order. We said if you have prohibitory orders then we will go to Haryana. But police said you are already in Delhi, they were asking us to go back to Ladakh or get detained. We said we will get detained.

How was it to be in detention?

They took good care of me. Delhi Police was trying to be as friendly as possible, they were trying to give good facilities but they were not at all prepared for detention. If they had known and there were prohibitory orders, they had no idea where to put us up. There was total confusion, people were taken from one place to another and they were still cleaning the rooms as we arrived. In the station where I was, people were kept in the open. People who live at an altitude of 17,000-18,000 feet, were made to sleep under open sky on the floor, there was nothing, except a rug, it was difficult. Our phones were taken away and that is why I have been silent all this while.

Are you planning any legal action against the police?

We are not interested, we are only interested in saving the Himalayas, particularly Ladakh. We are very grateful that they detained us. They acted like amplifiers, loudspeakers for our message.

What will be your strategy now?

As we were detained, we went on an indefinite fast. The condition for breaking the fast were two-fold: one that we must be taken to Rajghat on October 2 for which we have walked all the way from Ladakh and secondly, we have to meet one of the top three leaders in the country, the Prime Minister, the President or the Home Minister. The MHA has assured us of facilitating the meeting. They are to inform us about the date and name or we will most unfortunately sit on a fast in Delhi.

How do you plan to revive the talks with the high-powered committee?

One of our pleas (submitted to Joint Secretary, MHA) was on resuming the talks within the next 15 days. Restoring democracy — mega and micro in Ladakh is our demand. Sixth Schedule (tribal status) is nothing but local democracy. I am an environmentalist, not a politician. My interest is that if there is local democracy at the grass roots, then natives get to manage their environment. Natives are the best to manage it, somebody who comes for three years will not run the affairs for you. They will not have the knowledge, nor they will have the stakes.

Sixth Schedule does not have a panchayat system though, how will it ensure grass roots democracy?

Government is keenly offering panchayats to Sixth Schedule areas of the North East, if you want you can have a panchayat, if you don’t then sixth schedule itself is grass roots democracy.

We thought we will be better under the Central government. For five years, one person who does not know anything about the place is deciding our idea of development. Except for some roads, very little in the name of development has happened. The Union Territory administration has not recruited a single officer in the last five years, so how will they be able to develop the place? Local youth are jobless, their age limit (to apply for government jobs) is over. As we speak, large corporates are taking over our land. Pashmina herders from Changthang plains are completely under threat of being dislocated, ancient occupation will be eliminated from the face of the earth. It will be destroyed to produce electricity, electricity for who? Delhi, Punjab and Haryana. We are happy if the electricity is used for a sick person or to electrify a hospital, our problem is it is just not the government. People here keep their air conditioners at 20 degrees and sleep in quilts in 45 degree temperature. You waste so much. Our pastures are being destroyed for your wastefulness. Valleys in Himachal are being drowned in hydropower to feed Delhi’s greed not need.

Published - October 04, 2024 10:48 pm IST