Police in India detained the environmental activist Sonam Wangchuk as he led supporters to Delhi after a month-long protest march from Kashmir. The 58-year-old was released the same night. However, he was re-arrested when he and his supporters insisted on marching into the capital.
Wangchuk went on a hunger strike in a police station to demand a visit to the tomb of Indian freedom leader Mahatma Gandhi on his birth anniversary on Wednesday.
His detention sparked protests in Leh, a city in Kashmir's Ladakh region, from where Wangchuk and 150 supporters began their 950-kilometre trek on 1 September.
Protesters also blocked traffic on a motorway, stranding many, including tourists to Leh, a popular destination for adventure sports, NDTV reported.
In Delhi, friends of the activist filed appeals in the city high court seeking Wangchuk’s release, with the petitions likely to be heard on Thursday.
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In March, Wangchuk, an engineer who designed a campus for students using solar energy for cooking, lighting and heating, staged a 21-day hunger strike in Ladakh to press for his demands.
His foremost concern is securing constitutional safeguards for Ladakh’s tribal communities, which comprise 90 percent of the region's 2.7 million people.
Many have been displaced by border frictions between India and Pakistan, including the 1999 mini-war in Ladakh's Kargil peaks.
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Wangchuk also calls for a halt to the industrialisation of Ladakh, alleging that it will open the region to corporations eyeing its gold, dolomite, limestone, coal, marble, sulphur, and cement-grade granite deposits.
However, Delhi insists that this industrialisation will bring prosperity to Ladakh, where the unemployment rate among women is three times higher than that of men.
Autonomy for Ladakh is also on Wangchuk's list of demands, particularly after the territory was downgraded to federal status in 2019 when Delhi split Kashmir in two.
Political reaction
In Delhi, main opposition leader Rahul Gandhi criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Wangchuk’s detention, noting that he inspired the 2009 Bollywood hit 3 Idiots.
“Modi ji, like with the farmers, this 'Chakravyuh' (labyrinth) too will be broken, and so will your arrogance,” Gandhi said, referring to the 2021 repeal of three farm reform laws following farmers’ protests.
The Delhi government, led by the rookie Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), backed Wangchuk as many in Modi’s BJP accused him of trying to influence upcoming assembly elections in Haryana with his march.
“The people of Ladakh consider Sonam Wangchuk as their God. He is a man who has dedicated his life to the region,” said AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj.
Delhi’s AAP Chief Minister Atishi Marlena said police prevented her from meeting Wangchuk, who is credited with designing artificial glaciers to store water in parched Ladakh.
Principal opposition Congress Party president Mallikarjun Kharge also targeted Modi’s BJP party government.
“The Modi government wants to exploit the ecologically-sensitive Himalayan glaciers of Ladakh to benefit its crony friends," he said.
