New Delhi: Late on Monday (September 30) and just hours ahead of the arrival of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and around 150 participants of a ‘Climate March’ from Ladakh to Delhi, the Delhi police issued prohibitory orders in parts of the national capital.
The order, effective from Monday to October 5, prevents the assembly of more than five people, and also makes it illegal for people to hold placards and banners during this time.
The police had “received inputs” that several organisations planned to hold protests, demonstrations and campaigns during the week and this was a security concern due to many reasons, including the ongoing legislative assembly elections in Haryana and in Jammu and Kashmir, as per the order.
On the same night as the order came into force, Wangchuk posted on his social media handles that he and the 150-odd participants of the Climate March were possibly being detained by police as they neared the Singhu border in Haryana.
A police officer who did not want to be named told The Wire that several men who were participating in the Climate March had been detained at the Bawana police station in Delhi.
A source who accompanied Wangchuk to the border informed The Wire after midnight on Tuesday that 20 others had been detained in Rohini.
The Climate March, led by Wangchuk, kicked off on September 1 in Leh. Since then, Wangchuk and around 150 Ladakhis have been covering the 1,000 kilometres from Leh to Delhi on foot, and across unforgiving terrains, including the Taglang La pass that stands at 17,000 feet above sea level.
The aim was to arrive at Delhi on October 1 and at Rajghat on October 2 in an effort to get the Union government to accede to their demands for constitutional safeguards for Ladakh under the sixth schedule of the Indian constitution, as well as to remind Indians and the world about the issues that climate change poses in the fragile Himalaya.
Police personnel are seen near the bus carrying participants of the Climate March. Photo by arrangement.
Prohibitory orders in Delhi
On Monday night, Delhi police commissioner Sanjay Arora imposed prohibitory orders in the national capital till October 5, in light of having received “inputs” that several organisations were planning to hold events such as protests, demonstrations and campaigns in the city in the first week of October.
The order prohibits five or more people gathering in a location, carrying banners and placards (which, incidentally, has been clubbed with carrying firearms, lathis, spears, swords, sticks and brickbats), and conducting dharnas in public places.
In his order, Arora said that the “general atmosphere in Delhi is sensitive from a law and order point of view due to various current issues”, such as the Waqf Amendment Bill and the election results of the Delhi University Students Union still being pending.
Other “current issues” that the commissioner referred to in the order as rationale for implementing prohibitory orders was that due to the ongoing legislative assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir and in Haryana, “there is need to have continuous check on movement of persons and vehicles from Delhi borders”; that some parts of the capital would be vulnerable to disturbance due to the elections; and that the “festival season” – Dussehra and Diwali – are also “arriving in the coming months”.
While Dussehra (also known as Navratri) is a nine-day long Hindu festival that will be celebrated from October 3-12, Diwali comes almost a month later, on October 31 (though celebrations can begin a few days before).
“Further, there will be heavy movement of VIPs and dignitaries in the areas of New Delhi and Central District on 2nd October, on the Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi,” the order noted.
The order specifically applies to north and central Delhi, apart from all areas along the border of Delhi.
‘I am being detained’
In a video post on social media, recorded from inside the bus that was carrying him and others who have been walking with him on the Climate March from Punjab to Delhi, Wangchuk said that many vehicles belonging to the Haryana and Delhi police had been escorting them from Haryana to Delhi’s borders.
I AM BEING DETAINED…
along with 150 padyatris
at Delhi Border, by a police force of 100s some say 1,000.
Many elderly men & women in their 80s and few dozen Army veterans…
Our fate is unknown.
We were on a most peaceful march to Bapu’s Samadhi… in the largest democracy… pic.twitter.com/iPZOJE5uuM— Sonam Wangchuk (@Wangchuk66) September 30, 2024
The team planned to camp at the Singhu border on the night of September 30, and then begin walking towards Delhi on October 1 and arrive at the Rajghat Memorial on October 2 to mark the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, who was cremated there.
The Singhu border, which connects Haryana to Delhi, was in the news earlier this year when Delhi police installed blockades here in February to prevent farmers from Punjab and Haryana from marching into Delhi to demand a legal guarantee for minimum support prices for their crops.
On Monday night, when Wangchuk and Climate March participants began nearing Delhi in their buses, it became evident that the police vehicles were not escorts but meant to detain them, Wangchuk said.
According to Wangchuk, two police officers escorting them in his bus said that around 1,000 police personnel were stationed on the borders of Delhi and all lanes had been barricaded. He also added that Ladakhi leaders staying at Ladakh Bhavan in Delhi had been put under a sort of “house arrest” and that he had received news that streets and areas where Ladakhi students lived in Delhi were also barricaded.
“It looks like they do not want this padyatra to be conducted,” Wangchuk said in his post. “It was completely peaceful but all efforts are being made to stop it. I may be detained but I do not know … the country is with us, truth is with us and truth will prevail. Jai Hind.”
A few hours before, Wangchuk had posted a video of him talking while traveling by bus from Punjab and Haryana to Delhi. He said that they were being mindful of the ongoing assembly elections in Haryana and not undertaking the Climate March there so as to not cause any disturbance or give the Climate March political colour.
In that social media post, Wangchuk had said that they would halt at the Singhu border on Monday night and then resume their Climate March from 7 am towards Delhi.
“Many of you have said that you will join us on the march in Delhi, and you are welcome,” Wangchuk said in this video. “But only on a request and a condition. Firstly, this is in memory of Bapu [Mahatma Gandhi] so will keep this extremely peaceful … Secondly, the March is about Ladakh’s concerns and their redressal. So this will remain Ladakh’s padyatra … we will not join any other aim or agenda to this.”
“We will respect Delhi’s people and will not engage in any sloganeering … zindabad, murdabad is not in Ladakh’s culture,” Wangchuk went on to say. “Nor will we hold up placards. We will only hold up these kataks [white scarves] … kataks are a symbol of purity, friendship and truth. We will wave these, that’s all. We will march in silence on Delhi’s roads just like we did in Chandigarh, a silent walk.”
He had also added that Climate Marchers would hold Indian flags.
In a statement, Major General (retired) S.G. Vombatkere, said that the purpose of the Ladakhis’ “peaceful and disciplined procession” was “to express and convey the aspirations and demands of Ladakhi people to the [Union] government”.
Their main demands are to include Ladakh into the sixth schedule of the constitution because over 90% of Ladakhi people belong to Scheduled Tribes, and have a legislative assembly for Ladakh, which is presently a Union territory. This is so that they “may elect their own representatives with the power and authority to make and execute plans and take decisions, in the best interest of Ladakhi people and the ecologically sensitive region of Ladakh”, he said.
“I consider the Ladakhis’ demands unexceptionable, and I urge the [Union] government to accede to their legitimate demands without delay,” Vombatkere said.
