New Delhi: A year after violence in Ladakh left four people dead and led to his detention under the National Security Act, activist Sonam Wangchuk on Sunday demanded the release of the judicial inquiry report, higher compensation for victims and accountability for the use of state powers.
The Magsaysay awardee, who was released in March this year, said the inquiry, headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice B S Chauhan, should establish what happened during the police firing on September 24 last year, including whether an order to open fire was issued and whether prescribed crowd-control measures had been exhausted before live ammunition was used.
“These are not questions to be answered by rumours, accusations, or counter-accusations. That is exactly why a judicial inquiry was constituted,” he said.
Addressing a press conference in Delhi a year after his detention, Wangchuk recalled how he was taken to Jodhpur on a special flight on September 26 last year and subsequently informed that he had been detained under the NSA and would be kept in total isolation.
Wangchuk said he believed there had been a plan to kill him in an encounter on September 24 last year.
“From what I understand, there was a plan to make an encounter of myself, but that could not happen,” he said, adding that he was instead taken into “total isolation” in a jail cell.
Seeking increased compensation for families of the people killed and for those who suffered serious or lasting injuries, Wangchuk said compensation also represents the state’s recognition of a loss.
He said the Ladakh administration announced compensation of 15 lakh rupees for each of the four families while spending crores on festival after festival being organised in the Union territory.
“Can Rs 15 lakh ever compensate a mother for her son, a wife for her husband, or children for their father? Of course not. No amount can,” Wangchuk said.
Regarding his earlier detention, Wangchuk asked that if he really was such a danger to national security or public order that he had to be taken away from Ladakh and kept under the NSA, then why was he free at present?
Calling for the review of criminal cases arising from the September 24 events, he said 87 people were identified as accused, and 81 were arrested, while cases against 20 people have been approved for withdrawal.
“The administration has now approved the withdrawal of cases against 20 people. That is welcome. But what about the others? Among those caught up in these cases, Ladakhis say, were ordinary people who happened to be there and volunteers who had actually gone to try to calm the situation. Some have faced extremely serious charges, including attempted murder,” he said.
Wangchuk called for reforms concerning undertrial detention, investigation, prosecution and compensation for wrongful deprivation of liberty. He also sought accountability for what he described as the misuse of the NSA and other powers, asking the Union Home Ministry to clarify who would be held responsible when people were detained on false or unfounded charges.
“Process is the punishment,” Wangchuk said, calling for reforms within the judicial system and questioning how India could call itself the “mother of democracy” while such cases continued.
He suggested that undertrials should be provided better facilities, arguing that the government would have a greater incentive to expedite cases if keeping people in custody imposed a high cost on the state.
Wangchuk also apologised for his earlier comparison of the situation in Ladakh with the suffering of Tibetans, saying he understood why his remarks had hurt members of the Tibetan community. He said Tibetans had suffered “incomparably more” and acknowledged that he should not have made the comparison.
He said his comparison was specifically about the treatment of Ladakh under the current administration and was not intended as a comparison with India or the country as a whole.
The activist also stressed that a strong country is not one where citizens are silent.
“A democracy should never be afraid of questions…A strong country is one where citizens can question their government peacefully, where the police are respected but also accountable, where the innocent are protected, and where even the most powerful public authority remains answerable to the law,” he said.
“I am not asking for revenge. I am asking for the truth. I am asking for justice. I am asking for accountability,” he said.
