Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, others detained again, continue indefinite fast

Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and 150 other protestors from Ladakh who are in detention in Delhi continued their indefinite fast on Wednesday, saying that they find their rights “trampled upon”, PTI reported.

They had launched the fast on Tuesday at the police stations where they were held after being detained at Delhi’s Singhu border the previous night. They were marching to the national capital to demand constitutional safeguards for Ladakh.

While Wangchuk has been kept at the Bawana police station, several others have been detained at other locations.

The Delhi Police said that Wangchuk and others were released on Tuesday night. But they were detained again because they wanted to continue their march towards central Delhi, PTI quoted an unidentified police officer as saying.

On Wednesday morning, Jigmat Paljor, the coordinator of the civil society group Leh Apex Body, said that their detention was illegal.

“We, the ‘padyatris’, find ourselves in an alarming situation,” PTI quoted him as saying. “We have been detained for over 24 hours. This detention is illegal, as the 24-hour period has elapsed, and we must be produced before a magistrate.”

He added: “Last night, the police attempted to forcibly relocate us to an unknown location, but we stood our ground in resistance.”

The phones of the protestors had been confiscated, said Paljor.

On Wednesday, protestors...

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