At mahatma Gandhi's tomb in Rajghat on wednesday night, climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and a few others from Ladakh paid their respects. They thereafter announced that they had been freed from police custody and had broken their fast.
 
Wangchuk stated that the group had broken their fast and that they had given the government a paper outlining their demands. They were also promised a meeting with the senior leadership shortly.
 
After visiting mahatma Gandhi's memorial, Wangchuk told the media, "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."

"Locals should be empowered in the himalayas because they can best preserve it," he stated.
 
"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 stated.
 
"We have called for a democratic system in Ladakh, which includes the Sixth Schedule. We will meet with senior leadership, as promised, and the exact date of the meeting will be announced in a few days, Wangchuk stated.
 
Wangchuk and the other 'padayatris' were all released in the evening, according to a senior police official.
 
"They were allowed to go after an assurance from them of not gathering or holding any yatra as Section 163 is imposed in central parts of the national capital," stated the officer.
 
While other 'padayatris' were housed at three different police stations along the Delhi-Haryana border, Wangchuk was detained in the Bawana police station.
 
All were escorted in busses by police forces until Rajghat at approximately 9.30 pm and thereafter, Wangchuk and all others 'padayatris' were permitted to depart.
 
Wangchuk may remain in delhi for a few more days, according to police sources, in order to arrange a meeting with the government.
 
Wangchuk stated that they have received guarantees that negotiations would pick back up in 15 days with the representatives of the Kargil Democratic Alliance and the Leh Apex Body.
 
Leading the 'Delhi chalo Padyatra', which started a month ago in Leh, was Wangchuk. Approximately 170 individuals from Ladakh were arrested on monday night at the Singhu border in Delhi. They were taken to various police stations where they embarked on a hunger strike. The marchers were demanding, among other things, protections for the Union Territory under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
 
The Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) and the Leh Apex Body (LAB) organized the march. For the past four years, they have been leading an agitation to demand statehood for Ladakh, its inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, early recruitment along with a public service commission for Ladakh, and separate lok sabha seats for the districts of Kargil and Leh.
 
The delhi police had taken them into custody, citing the implementation of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita section 163 (formerly section 144 of the CrPC) in the districts of New delhi, North and Central, as well as all police stations having authority over states that share borders.
 
 
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Sonam Wangchuk

G GOWTHAM

03/10/2024 08:18 AM