CM Atishi says not allowed to meet Sonam Wangchuk; Kejriwal asks if Delhi is ‘someone’s personal property’

Wangchuk and close to 150 activists from Ladakh were detained on Monday night by Delhi Police for allegedly violating prohibitory orders, which were passed a few hours before the contingent reached Delhi’s border.

Earlier in the day, in a post on X, Atishi stated, “Sonam Wangchuk and our 150 Ladakhi brothers and sisters were coming to Delhi peacefully. The police have stopped them. They have been imprisoned in Bawana Police station since last night. Is it wrong for Ladakh to demand democratic rights? Is it wrong for satyagrahis to go to Gandhi Samadhi on October 2?”

Atishi termed Wangchuk’s detention as an act of “dictatorship”.

Wangchuk’s march aims to raise awareness about climate change and its impacts, particularly in the Himalayas and the Ladakh region. He has also demanded Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh, a Union Territory.

AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal said in an X post, “Sometimes farmers are stopped from entering Delhi, and other times it’s the people of Ladakh. Is Delhi someone’s personal property? Delhi is the nation’s capital, and everyone has the right to come here. This is completely wrong. What are they so afraid of from unarmed, peaceful people?”

Former deputy chief Minister and AAP leader Manish Sisodia accused the BJP and its leaders, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, of protecting gangsters and treating people like Wangchuk, who love the country, as terrorists.

“Instead of using its police force to stop crime and take action against the increasing gangsters in Delhi, the BJP is stopping Sonam Wangchuk,” he said.

The police had imposed curbs on gatherings of over four people in Delhi between Monday and Saturday in three districts —North, Central and New Delhi—along with all police station jurisdictions on Delhi’s borders.

For imposing the curbs, they cited communal tensions over the Waqf Amendment Bill, Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s standing committee elections, pending Delhi University Students Union poll results and elections in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir, among other things.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also expressed his support for Wangchuk, calling his detention “unacceptable”. He posted on X, “The detention of Sonam Wangchuk ji and hundreds of Ladakhis peacefully marching for environmental and constitutional rights is unacceptable. Why are elderly citizens being detained at Delhi’s border for standing up for Ladakh’s future?”

The leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha also criticised Modi. “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,” he wrote.