Sonam Wangchuk & Others Stopped, Detained, Then Released

Environmentalist and engineer Sonam Wangchuk was released by the Delhi Police late on October 2, more than 36 hours after he and 150 others were held in police custody in the national capital. The group was on a peaceful march from Leh to the capital Delhi to highlight the impacts of climate change in Ladakh, and to demand the application of the sixth schedule and statehood over the region.

Hundreds had gathered to welcome Wangchuk and the pad yatris (foot travellers) at the Rajghat memorial on Gandhi Jayanti, but the crowd was thinned by a heavy police presence that swelled through the day. “It’s disheartening that we were welcomed in Delhi with a detention, and now we are being escorted and now allowed to move freely. We were divided and sent to multiple police stations. It feels like they don’t want our voices to be heard,” Gilmet Dorjey, a pad yatri in his 50s, told Mongabay India.

At the memorial, Wangchuk presented a memorandum reiterating demands for the sixth schedule and statehood, as well as for the protection of the Himalayas. “The Home Ministry has assured us that our wish for a meeting with either the Prime Minister, Home Minister, or President will be granted in the coming days. We end our march in the trust that the government will honour its assurance,” he said while presenting the memorandum Prashant Sitaram Lokhande, a joint secretary from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. Despite being released around 4:30 pm from Bawana police station, Wangchuk managed to reach Rajghat only at 10 pm, after multiple delays by the police. He broke his two-day fast which he started in custody after paying his respects to Gandhi.

Wangchuk’s detention on September 30 prompted widespread condemnation from activists, scholars, and the opposition, who called it “unacceptable“. Ladakh also observed a bandh till his release. “The dissonance between celebrating Gandhi’s peaceful resistance and the detention of environmental protesters is painfully obvious,” writer and climate activist Disha Ravi told Mongabay India, adding, “If India is serious about addressing the climate crisis, protecting Ladakh is essential.”

The pad yatris were detained based on an order issued by Commissioner of Police Sanjay Arora on September 30 prohibiting gatherings of five or more persons due to Delhi’s “sensitive” law and order situation. The order cited the movement of VIPs, the upcoming elections in Haryana, Delhi University and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, among other reasons, for imposing restrictions.

As night approached, hundreds of police officers and a drone were deployed in Rajghat. “Peaceful protestors have been met with such a fierce, undemocratic response from the government and police. What was the need to detain them for over 24 hours? They marched peacefully to have a discussion with the government, their demands should have been heard,” said activist Alok Shukla, convenor of the Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan, who came to Delhi to express his solidarity with Wangchuk.

Even though he was released, Wangchuk’s movements have since been restricted to Ladakh Bhavan, where press is being given limited access.

Demands in the memorandum

The pad yatris, which included people of all ages, ethnicities, genders and religions, walked over 800 kilometres through Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. They then took a bus from Haryana to the outskirts of Delhi to avoid any conflict in light of the upcoming assembly elections. “We were welcomed and given help along the way in each state. We didn’t experience any hostility till we came here,” said another pad yatri, requesting anonymity.

After Wangchuk and the pad yatris were detained, legal advisor to the Leh Apex Committee, Haji Mustafa, filed a petition in the Delhi High Court seeking an emergency hearing for their release. The request, however, was denied and a hearing was scheduled for October 3, instead. “It was very difficult for us to get in touch with our legal advisors because our phones were confiscated,” said Mehdi Shah, a pad yatri and media in-charge of the march.

On October 2, members of the Apex Committee met with officials from the Home Ministry and urged them to resume an open dialogue to negotiate the union territory’s demands. Last year, the central government set up a High Powered Committee to look into the demands for the sixth schedule and protection of the region’s language, culture, and natural resources. However, talks were largely stalled after February this year. “The government has agreed to reopen talks with us,” Sonam Parvez, a member of the Leh Apex Committee, told Mongabay India.

The application of the sixth schedule refers to a constitutional provision that permits predominantly tribal areas to establish autonomous councils with legislative, judicial, executive and financial powers. The memorandum submitted to the government says local democracy “will give the responsibility of stewardship of the fragile ecology…to the indigenous tribal people who have been living there in harmony with nature for millennia and will be affected for generations if mistakes are made in this sensitive region.” The population of Ladakh is almost entirely tribal, according to government reports.

The memorandum also highlighted melting glaciers due to global warming and urged the government to achieve carbon neutrality (net-zero emissions) before 2070. Lastly, the memorandum urges the government to accelerate efforts under the Lifestyle for Environment (LIFE) movement, which aims to reduce consumption and encourage sustainable lifestyles.

Ladakh’s ecology

Ladakh is located in the trans-Himalayan region, which is warming at a faster rate compared to the global average. Glaciers near Pangong lake have retreated by around 6.7 percent since 1990, research shows. Apart from climate change, black carbon emitted from traffic and infrastructure projects exacerbate the pressure on glaciers, researchers said.

Glaciers are a primary source of water in the union territory, but growing tourism and development are adding to the region’s water scarcity. In 2019, after the abrogation of Section 270 turned Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh into union territories, the former was given a legislative assembly while the latter was not. This prompted unrest about the extent to which Ladakhi people were empowered within the administration.

In an interview to Mongabay India last year, Wangchuk said Ladakh’s geography, climate, and demographics all contributed to the need to safeguard its resources. “Pollution, local activities, tourism, and military presence have led to a growing population in the area. If this trend continues, each new industry will bring in thousands of people, putting pressure on an already sensitive region. The government seems unable to understand the sensitivity of this region,” he said.

(Published under Creaative Commons from Mongabay-India. Read the original article here)