Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday said the arrest of climate activist Soman Wangchuk was unfortunate, and accused the BJP-led NDA government of backtracking on its promises. However, he also said that the move wasn't unexpected as the Central government was "after him since yesterday."
“This (Wangchuk’ arrest) is unfortunate. The way the Central government was after him since yesterday, it seemed they would do something like this,” Abdullah told reporters on the sidelines of the inaugural ceremony of the third Junior Asian Pencak Silat championship here.“Promises were made with the people there…I don’t understand what compulsions does the Central government have to backtrack after making promises,” he said.Given the way the central government has been after them since yesterday, it seemed like something like this might happen. They were made promises, just like we were. Now I don't understand what compels the central government to renege on promises it makes..." the Chief Minister said.
Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk was arrested on Friday, two days after violent protests in Ladakh left four people dead and 90 others injured. It was not immediately clear what charges were pressed against Wangchuk. The home ministry had blamed Wangchuk, a senior member of Leh Apex Body (LAB), which, along with Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), is spearheading the agitation in support of the demands — statehood for Ladakh and its inclusion under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution — for the past over five years, for provocation leading to the violence.
The J&K chief minister said before the Hill council elections in Leh in 2020, a Union minister went there as the people there had decided to boycott the elections.Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal also reacted to reports of police arresting Ladakh activist Sonam Wangchuk, two days after violence broke out during protests in Leh. Expressing concerns, Kejriwal criticised the Central government's handling of the situation, calling its actions "oppressive and dictatorial."
Drawing parallels with mythological and historical figures, he posted on X, "Ravana's end also came. Kansa's end also came. Hitler's and Mussolini's end also came. And today, people hate all those individuals. Today in our country, dictatorship is at its peak. The end of those who practice dictatorship and arrogance is very bad."Former Delhi Minister and AAP leader, Saurabh Bharadwaj, also launched an attack on the ruling BJP over reports of Sonam Wangchuk's arrest, claiming that the arrest of Sonam Wangchuk shows that the "end of the BJP's central government is approaching."
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