LEH (The Thursday Times) — Police in Ladakh removed the activist Sonam Wangchuk from a protest site in Leh on Wednesday and escorted him home, hours after he and regional leaders called for elections due in the depths of winter to be put off.
“Sonam Wangchuk has been advised to stay at his residence,” the region’s police chief, Anand Jain, said in a post on X, citing prohibitory orders issued by Ladakh’s chief electoral officer and the district magistrate in Leh.
The orders ban public rallies, protests, and other gatherings within Leh municipal limits during the election period. Police said the step was taken to prevent any breach of public order, and urged residents to obey the restrictions.
Winter polls
Ladakh holds panchayat and municipal elections on November 21, followed by polls to its hill development councils on December 4.
Earlier on Wednesday, Wangchuk joined leaders of the Leh Apex Body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance, which lead a long-running campaign for statehood and constitutional safeguards for the region, in asking President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and opposition leader Rahul Gandhi to have the council elections deferred.
They argued that December and January are Ladakh’s coldest months, with temperatures in places falling below minus 30 degrees Celsius, and that many residents leave the region in winter.
An ‘SOS’ to the nation
After the police action, Wangchuk posted a video titled “Ladakh’s SOS Appeal to the Nation”. He said talks with the central government on restoring democratic rule in Ladakh had broken down, and accused the administration of rushing the council polls to install people of its choosing.
He also said a judicial inquiry into the deadly clashes in Leh on September 24 last year was moving slowly. Wangchuk was arrested days after those clashes.
Ladakh has been governed directly by New Delhi as a union territory since 2019, when it was separated from Jammu and Kashmir.
