Wangchuk breaks fast after release, submits plea; govt promises meet

Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and his team members from Ladakh ended their fast on Wednesday (October 2) after they were released from detention. Wangchuk and many others paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at his memorial in Rajghat on the occasion of his birth anniversary later in the day.

Their padyatra from Ladakh was supposed to end at Rajghat on October 2 but they were instead detained on the Delhi border on Monday night. The group submitted a memorandum to the government listing their demands, and have been assured of a meeting with top leadership soon, Wangchuk said.

Memorandum submitted

“We have given a memorandum to the government to protect Ladakh under such Constitutional provisions so that its ecology can be preserved, in this case it is the Sixth Schedule, which gives locals the right to govern and manage the resources,” Wangchuk told the media after visiting Gandhi’s memorial.

“Locals should be empowered in the Himalayas because they can best preserve it,” he said.

Watch: Wangchuk's detention: 'Why is Centre turning a deaf ear?'

“In the coming days, we will meet the prime minister, president or home minister, this is the assurance we have been given by the home ministry,” he said.

“We have demanded a democratic set-up for Ladakh, and the Sixth Schedule is also a part of it. We have been assured that we will meet the top leadership, and the date of meeting will be confirmed in a couple of days,” Wangchuk said.

Wangchuk may stay back in Delhi

A senior police officer confirmed that Wangchuk and all other padayatris were released in the evening. “They were allowed to go after an assurance from them of not gathering or holding any yatra, as Section 163 is imposed in the central parts of the national capital,” the officer said.

Wangchuk was kept at the Bawana police station while the other padayatris were at three other police stations at the Delhi-Haryana border. Police personnel escorted them in buses till Rajghat around 9.30 pm. Later, Wangchuk and all others padayatris were allowed to go.

Police sources told news agency PTI that Wangchuk might stay in Delhi for a few more days to seek a meeting with the government.

The Delhi Chalo march

Wangchuk said they have been assured that talks with the representatives of the Leh Apex Body and Kargil Democratic Alliance will resume within 15 days.

The climate activist was leading the Delhi Chalo Padyatra, which began from Leh a month ago. Around 170 people from Ladakh, who were marching to Delhi demanding safeguards under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution for the Union Territory among other things, were detained on Monday night at Delhi’s Singhu border, and were taken to different police stations where they went on a hunger strike.

Also read: Interview | Ladakhis' agitation could turn violent if Centre pushes them to the wall: Ladakh MP

The march was organised by the Leh Apex Body, which, along with the Kargil Democratic Alliance, has been spearheading an agitation for the past four years to demand statehood for Ladakh, seek its inclusion under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, early recruitment process along with a public service commission for Ladakh and separate Lok Sabha seats for Leh and Kargil districts.

Delhi Police had detained them citing the imposition of Section 163 (which was earlier Section 144 of CrPC) of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita in the districts of New Delhi, North and Central and all police stations jurisdiction sharing the borders with other states.

(With agency inputs)