Detention of Ladakhi climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, others unacceptable: Rahul
The Opposition Congress party has strongly protested against the detention of Ladakhi climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and his associates at the Singhu border last night.
Slamming Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the detention, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said Modi must listen to the voice of the Ladakhis.
"The detention of Sonam Wangchuk ji and hundreds of Ladakhis peacefully marching for environmental and constitutional rights is unacceptable", Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said in a message posted on his X handle.
"Why are elderly citizens being detained at Delhi’s border for standing up for Ladakh’s future?” Rahul asked.
"Modi ji, like with the farmers, this ‘Chakravyuh’ will be broken, and so will your arrogance. You will have to listen to Ladakh’s voice", the Congress leader warned.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge described the step as a cowardly action deeply undemocratic in nature.
"In Ladakh, there is a growing wave of public support, with widespread calls for safeguarding tribal communities under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. Instead, the Modi Govt wants to exploit the ecologically sensitive Himalayan glaciers of Ladakh to benefit its crony friends", Kharge wrote on X.
K C Venugopal, Congress general secretary (organisation) said the Government of India was out to kill Mahatma Gandhi's ideals a day before his birth anniversary on October 2.
"The arrest of Sonam Wangchuk ji shows the government is scared of anyone who speaks up for their rights", Venugopal said in a message posted on his X handle.
"Ladakh has been silenced, stripped of its democratic rights, and on the verge of being handed over to large corporates", the message said.
"This protest is months old, and the BJP is silly to think such petty acts of cowardice are going to deter those who have embarked on a Gandhian mission", it added.
Wangchuk, who was marching to the National Capital from Leh demanding the Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh, was detained along with 120 protesters from the Union Territory at the Singhu border on Monday night.
The 'Delhi Chalo Padyatra' has been organised by the Leh Apex Body (LAB), which along with the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), is spearheading an agitation over the past four years in support of statehood, extension of the Constitution's Sixth Schedule, early recruitment process along with a Public Service Commission for Ladakh and separate Lok Sabha seats for Leh and Kargil districts.
