New Delhi: Sitting in a large room, all wearing yellow caps, the women of Ladakh are angry. They have refused food and water offered by on-duty cops, and can only speak about how unfair their detention has been.
Tashi Dolma, 60, from Saspol Leh, said they came here for a peaceful march “to spread the message of truth, environment and cultural heritage”. “We came to urge the central government to give us the Sixth Schedule so that indigenous people, the hill, the ecology and the culture of Ladakh are protected,” she said.
The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution includes provisions related to the administration of tribal areas in the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
As fellow protesters nodded in approval, Dolma said they also wanted to draw the attention of the government towards unemployment in Ladakh, but rued how the central administration had instead held them “illegally” in the hall of Outer Delhi’s Arya Samaj Mandir.
The tall gates of the temple were guarded by the police, and its caretaker had been instructed to stop outsiders, especially the media, from entering.
Activist Sonam Wangchuk and 130 others were detained Monday night at the Delhi-Singhu border for alleged violation of Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita which forbids unauthorised gathering of five or more people, carrying firearms or objects such as banners, and organising protests or dharnas in public places.
Around 150 people, members of the Leh Apex Body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance, started their march on foot from Ladakh on 1 September and planned to pay homage in the national capital on the eve of Gandhi Jayanti.
Around 35 people are detained at the Arya Samaj Mandir | Bismee Taskin | ThePrint
The two organisations have jointly spearheaded an agitation for the last four years, demanding for statehood, the Constitution’s Sixth Schedule, an early recruitment process along with a public service commission for Ladakh, and separate Lok Sabha seats for Leh and Kargil districts.
While Wangchuk and several activists were detained at the Bawana police station, those like Dolma were kept at the Arya Samaj Mandir, some 11 kilometres from the police station. Some others were in Munirka and Narela.
Standing outside the Bawana police station, retired professor Desh Dhankar from Haryana waits for Wangchuk to be released. No one was allowed to enter the building, except for a complainant. The area was also cordoned off by the Rapid Action Force.
“I joined them from Chandigarh. I often go to Ladakh on cycling trips and I want the cause of the people of Ladakh to be heard by the central government. The ecology of Ladakh will be protected only if power rests in the hands of local tribes,” the 55-year-old said.
Detention ‘illegal’
Climate activist Sajjad Kargili said the group was stopped around 9.30 pm Monday at the Singhu border, while they were “marching peacefully”. “This is unwarranted and undemocratic. The Centre is responsible for this, and we condemn them for dealing with such a heavy hand. They have detained us illegally,” he added.
“It is unfortunate that the people of Ladakh aren’t allowed to enter Delhi,” Kargili further said, adding he wanted the Sixth Schedule for Ladakh to protect its “environment and cultural heritage”.
He said this status would also ensure that law-making powers rested with the local tribal population. It is estimated that tribals make up more than 90 percent of the population of Ladakh.
Sources in the Delhi Police, however, said they will not arrest any of the agitators, though it is unclear when they would be released.
‘Hai Ram,’ says Wangchuk
On Monday night, engineer and reformist Sonam Wangchuk tweeted: “I AM BEING DETAINED… along with 150 padyatris at Delhi Border, by a police force of hundreds, some say 1,000. Many elderly men & women in their 80s and a few dozen Army veterans… Our fate is unknown. We were on the most peaceful march to Bapu’s Samadhi… in the largest democracy in the world, the mother of democracy… Hai Ram!”
The climate activist and other volunteers started a foot march—“Delhi Chalo Climate March”—from Leh on 1 September to urge the Centre to resume its dialogue with Ladakh’s leadership regarding their four-point demands.
A senior officer said the police requested them to go back as prohibitory orders were in place. But they wanted to spend the night at the border, forcing cops to detain them, he added.
On Monday, Section 163 was imposed in Delhi for six days till 5 October to prevent any untoward incidents over various issues such as the proposed amendments to the Waqf Board, the Mathura Eidgah issue, and upcoming elections in two states.
The Delhi Police Commissioner issued the order prohibiting demonstrations and protests during this period.
Wangchuk had earlier gone on a nine-day fast in Leh to draw attention to the importance of protecting Ladakh’s mountain ecology and indigenous people. “We are on a mission to remind the government of the promise it made to us five years ago,” the climate activist had said.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi criticised the large-scale detention of Ladakhis, saying in a post on X:: “The detention of Sonam Wangchuk ji and hundreds of Ladakhis who were peacefully marching for environmental and constitutional rights is unacceptable.”
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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Why they are doing a lot of drama?
India have tension with china in ladakh region, this drama will hurt indian policies.
Make idiots Sonam administrator of Ladakh.
This man is single hand destroying India reputation