The Centre on Thursday told the Supreme Court that the violence in Leh in September came under control after activist Sonam Wangchuk was detained, and said this showed that taking him in custody was justified, PTI reported.

Wangchuk was detained on September 26 and taken to a jail in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur after protests in Leh demanding statehood for Ladakh and its inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. During the protests, demonstrators clashed with and threw stones at security personnel, injuring several of them. Four persons were killed in police firing.

Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj, appearing for the Union government, submitted before a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and PB Varale that Wangchuk was the “chief provocateur” of the September 24 violence in Leh.

The bench was hearing a petition filed by Wangchuk’s wife Gitanjali Angmo challenging the activist’s detention under the National Security Act.

Nataraj added that there was complete application of mind by the detaining authority while detaining Wangchuk and that all procedural safeguards were followed, Bar and Bench reported. The additional solicitor general said that while the petitioner was pointing to fundamental rights, the “person coming before this court should also be aware of his fundamental duties towards citizens and the country”.

The case will be heard further on February 16.

During a hearing on February 4, the court had verbally asked the Union government to rethink Wangchuk’s detention considering that his “health is not that good”.

However, the Centre told the court on Wednesday that he is “fit, hale and hearty”.

Protest for statehood

In August 2019, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government abrogated the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution and bifurcated the state into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

The lack of a legislature in Ladakh has led to increasing insecurities among the residents of the Union Territory about their land, nature, resources and livelihoods, and stoked fears that the region’s cultural identity and fragile ecosystem may be in jeopardy.

Including Ladakh in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution would allow for the creation of autonomous development councils to govern land, public health and agriculture.

Following Wangchuk’s detention, key regional groups Apex Body Leh and Kargil Democratic Alliance withdrew from the talks with the government, stating that “talks cannot be held at gunpoint”.

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