LEH, Occupied Kashmir (Kashmir English): Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk has said that his imprisonment can create more problems for the government than his freedom and called the Indian home ministry’s act of blaming him for recent violent protests in Ladakh a “scapegoat tactic”.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Sonam Wangchuk, reacting to the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs statement, which had blamed him for provoking the mob violence on Wednesday, said he is prepared to be arrested under the black law, Public Safety Act (PSA).
“I see they are building up a case to bring me under the Public Safety Act and throw me in jail for two years,” he told the media over the phone and added that he was ready for that.
“But Sonam Wangchuk in jail may cause them more problems than a free Sonam Wangchuk,” the climate activist said.
“To say it (the violence) was instigated by me, or sometimes by Congress, is to find a scapegoat, rather than addressing the core of the problem, and this will lead us nowhere.”
Leh violence
The activist strongly attributed the eruption of violence to anger over long-standing grievances, primarily the frustration among the region’s youth, saying that the real cause is the “frustration of six years of unemployment and unmet promises at every level.”
He said the government is misleading the public by claiming success on partial job reservations, noting that the main demands for Statehood and the extension of the Sixth Schedule to protect Ladakh’s tribal status and fragile environment remain untouched after five years of peaceful appeals.
Wangchuk said by employing the “scapegoat tactic,” the government is “not actually taking measures for peace,” but instead taking steps that will “further aggravate” the situation by diverting attention from the people’s core demands.
