Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 26: A day after he said he would be “happy to be arrested anytime for this cause,” the climate activist and the leader of the current agitation for statehood of Ladakh Sonam Wangchuk, was arrested on Friday under the stringent National Security Act (NSA), on the charge of inciting a mob with provocative statements led to violence in Leh on Wednesday, official sources said.
Internet service was also suspended in Leh, officials said. A strict curfew continued in Leh town for the second day on Friday. All schools and colleges have been closed till September 27 in Leh.
The Union Home Ministry on Thursday had also cancelled the registration of Mr Wangchuk’s non-profit ‘Students Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh’ (SECMOL) to receive funds from abroad under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act or FCRA, 2010, citing alleged violations. In addition, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is also conducting an inquiry involving another non-profit organisation established by Mr Wangchuk, the “Himalayan Institute of Alternatives Ladakh” for alleged FCRA violations.
The arrest of the 59-year-old Mr Wangchuk came two days after violent protests broke out in Leh town. The NSA provides for long preventive detention without any scope for bail. He is likely to be moved out of Ladakh in a day or two.
Mr Wangchuk had said he would address a press conference at Hotel Abduz in Leh and also via Zoom. Though the meeting was started by his secretary, Wangchuk did not appear. Police sources said he was detained just before the scheduled press conference. Mustafa Haji, legal advisor to Leh Apex Body, said “Sonam Wangchuk has been detained by police while he was on his way to Leh from his village. We are getting more details.”
Officials said a team led by Ladakh Director General of Police (DGP) S.D. Jamwal arrested Mr Wangchuk from Leh. Official sources said Mr Wangchuk was scheduled to address the media after 2 p.m. but was denied permission.
Mr Wangchuk, who was part of the Leh Apex Body (LAB), had been on a hunger strike, which he called off after violence flared. Many of the protesters are believed to have broken off from the peaceful protest on Wednesday after two people fainted during the fast. When they resorted to violence, setting the BJP office on fire, he had appealed for peace.
The violence erupted in Leh during an ongoing protest demanding Statehood and tribal status for the region. Four people were killed in police firing while over 50, including about 30 police personnel, were injured in stone pelting and firing. The union home ministry later claimed that “a mob guided by Sonam Wangchuk’s provocative statements” was responsible for the violence.
The activist from the mountainous region who won the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2018 has denied all the allegations made by the Centre and the Union Territory’s administration on allegedly instigating violence. He has also denied that his non-profit organisation took any foreign contribution and claimed that it had only done business transactions with the UN, Swiss and Italian organisations and paid all taxes.
“… They mistook it as foreign contributions. I consider it a mistake on their [Centre’s] part and therefore I don’t mind it. But that’s what was thought of as a foreign contribution. It is not,” he said.
Ladakh’s gradual swing from cheering on becoming a Union Territory in 2019 after the Centre scrapped special status to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution, to the current tension due to demand for statehood, has led to speculation that foreign hands and local vested interests could be involved in engineering the crisis.
However, discontentment has been brewing for the last few years over a perceived political vacuum under the Lieutenant Governor. This factor led to the coming together of political and religious groups from Buddhist-majority Leh and Muslim-majority Kargil under joint platforms to raise their demands.
The Centre said Mr Wangchuk did not call off his fast despite knowing that the government has been actively engaged with Apex Body Leh (ABL) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) on the same issues. “The process of dialogue through this mechanism has yielded phenomenal results… However, certain politically motivated individuals who were not happy with the progress made under the high-powered committee have been trying to sabotage the dialogue process,” the MHA said in a statement on Wednesday, the day violence broke out while Mr Wangchuk was on hunger strike.
The MHA said it was clear the mob was incited by Mr Wangchuk through his provocative statements. “Incidentally, amidst these violent developments, he broke his fast and left for his village in an ambulance without making serious efforts to control the situation,” the MHA said. Apart from statehood, Mr Wangchuk is also seeking Ladakh to be placed under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, which provides for administration of tribal areas through an autonomous governance structure.
In an interview Mr Wangchuk had said on Thursday that he would be “happy to be arrested anytime if it is for this cause.” He also added what seemed like a warning: “I’m preparing for that [arrest]. I am looking forward to it. I don’t want to be in any confusion… But I want to tell you Sonam Wangchuk in jail will be equally, if not more problematic as Sonam Wangchuk outside participating in dialogues and discussions… because it will awaken people more about how this country is being run.”
Reacting to Wangchuk’s detention by the police, Apex Body Leh Co Chairman Chhering Dorje Lakruk said, “It is a very unfortunate development. We will make any further statement only after getting full details.”
The Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah called the arrest unfortunate and criticised the central government. “It is unfortunate they have arrested him. BJP will never fulfil their promises. We are not justifying violence. Who am I to justify violence, but BJP should answer why they let such a situation develop,” Mr Abdullah said.
Congress leader Ghulam Ahmad Mir said arresting “honourable and Gandhian activist is unwarranted.” “He never encouraged violence. The BJP government is hiding its failure after it could not handle the issues of Ladakh,” he said. Ladakh Member of Parliament Haji Hanifa condemned the arrest. “If Mr Wangchuk has been arrested for his peaceful agitation, we condemn the same,” Mr Hanifa said.