The opposition slammed the BJP government after climate activist Sonam Wanchuck was arrested on Friday, two days after the protests in Leh turned violent.
Wangchuk was arrested on Friday afternoon, just before he was scheduled to address a press conference. Opposition leaders, including Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal, launched scathing attacks on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led union government over the action.
Kejriwal called Sonam Wanchuck’s arrest “dictatorship”, drawing parallels from mythology and history.
“Raavan’s end also came. Kansa’s end also came. Hitler’s and Mussolini’s ends also came. And today, people hate all those individuals. Today in our country, dictatorship is at its peak. The end of those who practice dictatorship and arrogance is very bad,” the former Delhi chief minister wrote on X in Hindi.
Omar Abdullah accused the Centre of “backtracking” on the promises made to Ladakh.
“This (Wangchuk’s arrest) is unfortunate. The way the Central government was after him since yesterday, it seemed they would do something like this. Promises were made with the people there…I don’t understand what compulsion does the Central government have to backtrack after making promises,” Abdullah told reporters on the sidelines of the inaugural ceremony of the third Junior Asia
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh condemned Sonam Wangchuk’s arrest, saying it was done to divert attention and responsibility from the BJP’s abysmal failure to maintain law and order and ensure the security of life and property in the Union Territory of Ladakh.
“The crux of the issue is that the BJP has deceived the people of Ladakh for years. It promised the region Sixth Schedule status in the 2020 Leh Hill Council Elections and has gone back on that promise with a vengeance. It claimed that it gave Ladakh autonomy from the larger Jammu and Kashmir, but has really ended all semblance of democracy in the Union Territory,” Ramesh wrote on X.
