New Delhi:  Delhi High Court to Hear Plea for Release of Sonam Wangchuk and 150 Climate Activists Detained by Police...  Detainees in Narela and Bawana Police chowki  in Delhi have gone on hunger Strike till they are released.  

The lawyers representing Ladakhi climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and 150 fellow marchers are moving the Delhi High Court, seeking their immediate release from police detention.

Vikram Hegde, one of the leading advocates, has  said  they moving the Delhi High court against  detention of the activists which is prime facie  "illegal, unconstitutional, and unwarranted," as they were peacefully marching toward Rajghat as part of a scheduled 1000 km climate march from Leh to Delhi.

The Delhi CM Atishi has also stated that they would meet Sonam Wangchuk soon as he was on a peaceful protest march from Leh to Delhi and his detention is wrong. 

In response to the detention, Detainees in Arya Samaj Mandir in Narela, Bawana Chowki in  Delhi border have decided  to go on hunger strike, revealed reports. 

The peaceful march had started on September 1 and is one of toughest Padyatra ever taken in support of climate in India and in the world as whole. 

The braved sub zero temperatures of freezing and snowbound Tanglang La and Shinkun La and Bara La Cha Passes before the marchers descended to the hills of Himachal and the  sweltering plains of the Punjab, where they got the rousing reception from locals and  the state governments.   

Earlier Wangchuk had observed Climate Fast for over 23 days  in Leh last year, seeking protection for Ladakh under the sixth schedule.   He had also launched Pushmina March in Ladakh in April 2024. 

In an anticipated move, the Delhi administration has imposed Section 163 in North Delhi prohibiting assembly of more than 5 people in these City  areas.   

Ladakhis were to march to Majnu ka Tilla today. Tomorrow they were to march as scheduled to Rajghat to the Samadhi of Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi seeking protection of Ladakh, a climate hotspot under sixth schedule of the Constitution as promised by the BJP in its manifesto released in Ladakh in last Lok Sabha election in 2018.

But they were detained by Delhi Police upon reaching the Singhu border, where a large number of police force had been deployed.

Sonam Wangchuk and the other marchers were subsequently taken to the Industrial Area Police Station, raising concerns about the handling of peaceful protests.

Political heat has intensified following the detention. Rahul Gandhi, General Secretary of the All India Congress and Leader of the Opposition, condemned the police action, calling it "illegal and undemocratic."

He has demanded the immediate release of Wangchuk and his fellow activists.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Delhi government also joined in criticizing the detentions, with the move clearly marking a sharp divide between the central and state governments.

Although the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has yet to make an official statement, it is evident that the central government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has not welcomed the climate march initiated by Sonam Wangchuk and the Ladakhi activists.

The detention has ignited further debate over the government’s stance on climate issues and civil liberties.

Comments:

SDC Foundation, Dehradun has condemned the detention saying that "Sonam's detention is very bad on part of the Central  govt"-SDCF President Anoop Nautiyal.

Save Lahaul-Spiti Society  in Himachal Pradesh has also condemned the detention  of Sonam Wangchuk of his Team: President BS Rana

Integrated Mountain Initiative,  a civil society group of Himalayan states,  says that the "detention was avoidable": IMI President  Ramesh Negi.

We strongly condemned the detention of Sonam Wangchuk who along with other 150 Ladakhis have been on climate march  from Leh to Delhi by Delhi Police today- Sudarshan Thakur, President of Gramin Yuvak Sangathan, Lahaul-Spiti and a practicing lawyer at Punjab and Haryana Highcourt Chandigarh.

#SonamWangchuk

#Ladakh

#Delhi Police