The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fiercely condemned the detention of renowned social worker Sonam Wangchuk, who was en route to Delhi with a group advocating full statehood for Ladakh. AAP decries this move as a blatant violation of democratic freedoms.
AAP National Convener Arvind Kejriwal, posted on his X handle (erstwhile Twitter), saying: “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?”
Reacting to Sonam Wangchuck detention, AAP senior leader and Former Dy CM Manish Sisodia expressed, “The BJP-led central government has arrested Sonam Wangchuk at Delhi border. Sonam Wangchuk is an environmental innovator from Ladakh whose impact is wide in India and around the world. He, along with some other eminent people from Ladakh including social workers and army veterans reached Delhi border. Their plan was to discuss the situation of Ladakh at Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘Samadhi’ at the Rajghat on 2nd October.”
“They wanted to talk about the rights of Ladakh stripped away by the BJP-led central government. The BJP snatched statehood from Ladakh and made it into a union territory. Sonam Wangchuk and other people from Ladakh were coming to Delhi to ask for their right to elect a government like in other states of India. They were coming with a demand to restore their statehood,” added Manish Sisodia.
The senior AAP leader further added that the central government stopped them from entering Delhi and arrested them using full force. They have been detained in a police station. What is the central government doing? Delhi belongs to citizens from every state of India, they have a right to it.
“First they stopped farmers from Punjab from entering Delhi and now this group from Ladakh. Doesn’t Delhi belong to the people of Ladakh? The BJP detained them from entering Delhi because it’s not an issue specific to Ladakh. The BJP-led central government wants to make every state into a Union Territory and Sonam Wangchuk is raising an issue against it. And to raise that issue they have walked from Ladakh to Delhi with people of Ladakh,” said Manish Sisodia.
Manish Sisodia stated, “Is Sonam Wangchuk a terrorist? Why does the central government want to stop them from entering Delhi? The BJP has made a formula to slowly take over a state and make it into a UT. Sonam Wangchuk was coming with a voice against it and he was arrested at the border. But that voice can not be suppressed. Not just the AAP or Delhiites, the whole nation stands with them today. And we are ashamed that the central is ruled by a government that stops it’s citizens to enter their capital.”