SRINAGAR: "Till now, Ladakh climate activist and innovator Sonam Wangchuk had received many prestigious international and local awards, but the detention under the stringent National Security Act (NSA) would give him a Nobel prize," said Ladakh Bar Association President Leh, Mohammad Shafi Lassu.
Wangchuk (59) was leading peaceful agitation for 6th Schedule and statehood to the Ladakh Union Territory when he was arrested and booked under the NSA on September 24 and shifted to Jodhpur jail, Rajasthan after the September 24 violence in Leh over statehood and Sixth Schedule in which four persons were killed and 80 others injured.
The Ladakh DG of Police has accused Wangchuk of being ringleader of the protestors and alleged that his provocative speeches instigated youth to violence.
In the last four years, Wangchuk had held many hunger strikes to press the central government to grant statehood and Sixth Schedule to Ladakh UT.
According to Lassu, Wangchuk has given the peaceful concept of protests. "It is a new concept. We were expecting the government to encourage it. Peaceful protest is the best form of protest. It was a peaceful protest but ended in a violent note by the administration."
On his booking under the stringent NSA, Lassu said, "Wangchuk has so far received prestigious awards, including Ramon Magsaysay Award, Rolex Award for Enterprise, International Terra Award for Best Earth Building (SECMOL campus), Green Teacher Award by Sanctuary Asia, Global award for Sustainable Architecture. This NSA detention will bring the Nobel prize to him. Mark my word and note it."
On DG Ladakh Police saying police and agencies are probing Wangchuk’s Pakistani link and foreign funding, Lassu said, "His detention and booking under NSA is illegal and without any merit. All the allegations levelled against him are fake and fabricated."
Police had said Wangchuk attended an event organised in Pakistan by Dawn newspaper and gave a statement there.
Wanchuk’s wife Angmo Gitanjali said she and her husband (Wangchuk) attended the 'Breath Pakistan' conference organised by the UN in Pakistan to address climate change.
"It is no news that scientists and climate activists are invited by everybody. Geopolitics aside, environmentally India, Pakistan and China share the same Himalayan water of the glaciers," she said adding, "He was invited by the Nobel foundation in Sweden for the same thing."
"From the stage and in his talk shows and interviews, Wangchuk praised PM Modi for having climate awareness sensitivity and talking about carbon neutrality," she said.
Ladakh Bar Association President Leh president said blaming Wangchuk for being anti-national won’t work. "Mere allegations are not Proving. Proving the allegations in the court will be a herculean task for them."
He said that had Wangchuk been anti-national, he would not have coined the slogan 'Boycott China products'.
The Leh Apex Body and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), which is an amalgam of various political, social, trade and religious groups of Leh and Kargil districts of Ladakh UT and spearheading agitation for Sixth Schedule and statehood to Ladakh, have condemned arrest of Wanghuck and booking under NSA and rejected charges levelled against him.
Both LAB and KDA have demanded immediate release of Wangchuk.