New Delhi: Citing that there is “no provision” under current laws to grant permission “for any kind of ‘anshan’ [fast]”, let alone an indefinite one, the Delhi Police on Sunday (October 6) denied permission to climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and his supporters to conduct their indefinite fast and peaceful sitting protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. The activists have, nonetheless, begun their fast.
“So after trying everything possible to find a legitimate place for our anshan fast in New Delhi, we have finally decided to start our fast here at Ladakh Bhavan New Delhi where I was virtually detained for the last 4 days. Among us we have 75-year olds, women [and] men who walked for 32 days from Leh to Delhi, roughly 1,000 km,” Wangchuk wrote on X, where he also posted a video of himself and other activists chanting slogans.
On October 5 on his social media handles, Wangchuk had said that they planned to restart their indefinite fasts because they had not yet received any communication from the government about tentative dates to meet the Prime Minister, President or Home Minister at Delhi to discuss their issues including the implementation of the sixth schedule in Ladakh. The guarantee that the home ministry would enable meetings with at least one of these top leaders was the reason why Wangchuk and his supporters broke their nearly 48-hour fast on the night of October 2 at Rajghat, as The Wire had reported.
On the night of September 30 at Singhu border near Delhi, police had detained Wangchuk and many members participating in the 1,000 kilometre-long Climate March, in which around 150 people including political representatives from Ladakh walked from Leh to Delhi from September 1, through Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana. The activists sought to present Ladakh’s demands to the union government, including their demand for statehood so that locals can also be part of governance which, they have said, will ensure that development projects are undertaken while being mindful of the fragile environment of the region.
Their detentions came after the police imposed a prohibitory order in the national capital a few hours before, banning assembly of more than five people citing an already ‘sensitive’ atmosphere in the city. The police subsequently withdrew the prohibitory order, as they informed the Delhi high court on October 3.
‘No provision to grant permission’
The Delhi Police on Sunday, October 6, informed Jigmat Paljor, Coordinator, Apex Body Leh – who is among the coordinators of the Climate March – that there was no provision under any current law to grant Wangchuk and others permissions to conduct fasts at Jantar Mantar. The latter had hoped to restart their fasts at a location in Delhi, and Paljor had written on their behalf on both October 5 and 6 to the Delhi Police to grant them permission to do so at Jantar Mantar which is an official site for protests in the national capital.
“There is no provision under the extant laws, rules and guidelines under which permission can be granted for any kind of ‘anshan’, let alone an open ended, without timeframe, mass event, as is discernible from the application,” said a letter Additional Commissioner of Police Anyesh Roy, which Wangchuk shared on his social media.
Roy’s letter to Paljor said that the latter had not specified a start or end time for the event and that this was against the guidelines framed based on orders in 2017 and 2018 issued by the Supreme Court.
“The guidelines require that applications for holding any demonstration at Jantar Mantar shall be moved at least 10 days prior to the planned event,” Roy’s letter also added.
Furthermore, the guidelines require that the event should be conducted between 10 am and 5 pm, and that the Delhi Police had received “inputs” received through social and electronic media that “the leadership of the proposed event has stated that the event will be continued and its conclusion will be conditional to meeting of certain terms”. On the evening of October 4, Wangchuk had said that he and others would resume their indefinite fasts at Delhi if the government did not give them an audience with a top leader. This could be either the prime minister, president or home minister, the Climate Marchers had demanded on the night of October 2 at Rajghat, before they called off their fasts which they had begun while in detention by the Delhi Police on the night of September 30.
“It is quite clear that this proposed anshan is going to be a prolonged one,” the deputy police commissioner’s letter read.
It went on to deny Wangchuk and others permission to conduct their indefinite fasts at Jantar Mantar.
No means to follow Gandhi’s path in India: Wangchuk
Wangchuk expressed his disappointment on social media, asking why it was “so difficult to follow the path of Gandhi in his own country”.
“ANOTHER REJECTION ANOTHER FRUSTRATION,” wrote Wangchuk, in posts on his social media platforms including Facebook and X, at around noon on October 6. Wangchuk also shared a copy of the deputy police commissioner’s letter in his posts.
ANOTHER REJECTION ANOTHER FRUSTRATION
Finally this morning we got this rejection letter for the officially designated place for protests.
If Jantar Mantar is not allowed then please tell us which place is allowed. We want to abide by all laws and still express our grievance in a… pic.twitter.com/FLnyCdA7KI— Sonam Wangchuk (@Wangchuk66) October 6, 2024
“Finally this morning we got this rejection letter for the officially designated place for protests. If Jantar Mantar is not allowed then please tell us which place is allowed. We want to abide by all laws and still express our grievance in a peaceful way. Why is it so difficult to follow the path of Gandhi in his own country. There must be a way…” he wrote.
