Elections alone don’t make a democracy, people’s voice must be heard: Wangchuk

PTI New Delhi: Elections alone don’t make a country a democracy, it becomes one only when the voice of the people is heard, climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who has been sitting on a fast in Delhi for the last 14 days, said. Wangchuk, who led a padayatra from Leh to Delhi, was detained last month with several of his supporters and later released. Since then, he has been sitting on an indefinite fast at Ladakh Bhawan here with about two dozen of his supporters, demanding a meeting with the country’s top leadership. There has been no communication from the government so far regarding any meeting.

The activist, who has been subsisting on salt-water solution since October 6, also rued that his supporters were being stopped from meeting him by heavy barricading erected around the building, which got a separate identity after being split from Jammu and Kashmir Bhawan. Frail after days of fasting, Wangchuk spoke softly but minced no words. “As you can see, there are restrictions here (at Ladakh Bhawan). They are controlling who can come inside and who can’t. They are not even allowing people to assemble in the park here. Perhaps there is some fear of the support we are getting. They are scared of people who want to sit quietly on a fast,” Wanghcuk told PTI in an interview. On September 30, Wangchuk, along with 150 others, was detained from Delhi’s Singhu border, where hundreds of police personnel were deployed on the day they arrived.

After being kept in detention for almost two days, they were taken to Rajghat on October 2, Gandhi Jayanti, and released later with an assurance of a meeting with the top leadership. However, when no such meeting came, Wangchuk declared an indefinite fast, but could not get permission to sit at Jantar Mantar, the usual site for protests in Delhi. Wangchuk said he is being kept in “virtual detention” at Ladakh Bhawan. Last Sunday, the activist gave a call to his supporters to join them for a ‘maun vrat’ (silent protest) at the park outside the Bhawan, but it was not allowed and those who came were detained.