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Sonam Wangchuk's Detention Draws Political Backlash

Engineer, climate activist, and education reformer Sonam Wangchuk was detained by Delhi Police on September 30 night before he and 150 others could enter the Capital as part of a march to bringing Ladakh under the Six Schedule of the Constitution.  

Atishi at Bawana police station
Delhi Chief Minister Atishi Singh at Bawana police station where Sonam Wangchuk was detained. | Photo: PTI
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At 10:37 pm on September 30, climate activist and education reformer Sonam Wangchuk wrote on his X account: 바카라I am being detained.바카라 The 58-year-old had been leading a month-long 'Delhi Chalo Padyatra' from Leh to make a case for the Union Territory of Ladakh to be included in the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, giving it more autonomy.

Wangchuk added that many people who were detained along with him were elderly and several were former Army officers as well. Delhi Police detained him and 35 other men in Bawana police station, while over 100 people were shuttled in two buses and detained across various locations in the Rohini district area.

Speaking from the Bawana police station over phone, 22-year-old Mohamed Raihan, who started walking with Wangchuk from Leh on September 1, said, 바카라Actually we are not alright right now because since we have come here [Bawana PS], we have not been given anything to eat since last night. We came in peaceful protest, and if despite that we are being treated like criminals, we can only think of going on a hunger strike in protest.바카라

Raihan added that none of the 30-35 men in the station had seen Wangchuk since the previous night. 바카라I don바카라t know where Sonamji is. They took them last night to a separate place and we haven바카라t seen him since.바카라 The 22-year-old climate activist said the men had been made to sit in the station courtyard since the night.

Chief Minister of New Delhi Atishi Singh visited PS Bawana at 1:30pm on October 1. However, the CM left the station within 30 minutes after not being allowed to meet Wangchuk.

Speaking to the media, Singh said, 바카라I came here to meet Sonam Wangchuk바카라 he was coming to Delhi from Ladakh with 150 people to raise their voice. However, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government arrested him from the Delhi border. The people of Ladakh want democratic rights. They don바카라t want L-G leadership.바카라 

Singh added that, 바카라Today the central government of the Bharatiya Janata Party leaves no stone unturned in killing democracy, snatching the right to vote. Why the arrest? Why not let me meet them? Because the Bharatiya Janata Party is afraid of democracy and today I am saying with confidence that if such dictatorship of the Bharatiya Janata Party continues, the LG rule will end in Ladakh, the LG rule will end in Delhi and the rule of the Bharatiya Janata Party will end in the central government here as well.바카라

As Wangchuk바카라s detention hit the news, there has been widespread political and social backlash to the police action. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi called the move 바카라unacceptable.바카라

The police station at Bawana is currently a fortress with over 50 police personal바카라both men and women바카라stationed at the gates, some of them in riot gear.

Outside Bawana police station, well-wishers and followers of Wangchuk mill, demanding to know why he had been detained. Satish Nambardar, an official with the Bharitiya Kisan Union, said he had come down answering a call from the National Kisan Union to support Wangchuk. 바카라We all saw what the BJP did with us farmers, and we cannot let that happen to another. The farmers of India are behind Mr Wangchuk바카라 we will come down again in tractors if we have to,바카라 he said.

While police divided about 150 detainees across locations in the Bawana industrial area, Outlook tracked down several who were kept inside the Arya Samaj Mandir in Narelal, and also witnessed medical professionals entering the building. However, police refused to comment. At the time of writing this story, there had been no application for judicial remand of Wangchuk or the others filed by Delhi police in requisite district and sessions court in Rohini, court sources said.

A public interest litigation was filed before the Delhi High Court on October 1, questioning the detention of Wangchuk, with no charges against him, for almost 24 hours. A bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela refused an urgent hearing, and fixed the next date of hearing as October 3.

Meanwhile, outraged by Wangchuk바카라s arrest, 100s of people have taken to the streets of Leh chanting 바카라Delhi Police, shame shame바카라.

Wangchuk's march was organised by the Leh Apex Body (LAB), which along with the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) has been demanding statehood for Ladakh and 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.

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