Police arrested climate activist Sonam Wangchuk on Friday, two days after protests demanding Ladakh’s statehood and Sixth 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 S D Singh Jamwal at 2:30 pm, officials said, adding that he was subsequently lodged in a jail in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur.
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 Union Territory administration has 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 a five-year-long agitation demanding statehood and constitutional safeguards for the residents of Leh and Kargil, which form part of the Union Territory of Ladakh that was carved out from the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019.
The BJP-led Centre has blamed the climate activist for inciting the recent violence in Leh but Wangchuk has 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 an indication that youngsters in the region were frustrated.
The arrest came a day after the Union 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”.
‘Govt’s witch-hunting agenda’: Oppn parties
Opposition parties on Friday slammed the Centre over the arrest of climate activist Sonam 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 in-charge communications, 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 Sixth Schedule status in the 2020 Leh Hill Council elections and has gone back on that promise with a vengeance,” Ramesh said.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) Rajya Sabha Deputy Leader Sagarika Ghose alleged that the Narendra Modi government treats any dissent as “anti-national” 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. PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said Wangchuk’s arrest is “deeply disturbing”, terming the climate activist as a lifelong advocate of peace.
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 was passing through a difficult phase.