Mumbai, Oct 24 Climate activist and educationist Sonam Wangchuk on Saturday said protests are a great mechanism for governments to perform better and cited the unrest in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh as examples of what could happen if peaceful venting of energy is not allowed.
Speaking at the IPF Festival here, he said nations around the world happily permit protests, that too right in front of parliament.
In fact, in all the countries, the front of parliament is the face of the protest, Wangchuk claimed.
In countries like the United Kingdom, Norway and Sweden, he said, protests are allowed right in front of parliament.
“In India, it was far from Parliament… Even when it was just Jantar Mantar (in New Delhi), it was too far,” he asserted.
“So, protests are a great mechanism, a feedback, a pressure valve for governments to perform better if they see that,” Wangchuk said.
His remarks assume significance amid the clampdown by the Centre after the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) gave a call to protest at Jantar Mantar, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
The Opposition has criticised the Union government for not allowing peaceful protests.
“Look what happens when protests are not allowed. That is the example of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, when peaceful venting of energy is not allowed,” Wangchuk said.
He said no permission should be sought to hold protests. Permissions should be about monitoring what is happening in the city, for example, festivals, Wangchuk added.
Talkig to reporters here, Wangchuk asserted that peaceful protest on the roads was the correct way as it is a right given to citizens by the Constitution.
“You don’t kill the messenger. Take the message,” he said on the arrest of protesters, including CJP leaders.
Earlier, Wangchuk had undertaken a 26-day hunger strike in support of the CJP’s demand for the resignation of then Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged irregularities in the NEET exam.
“If you do things that need not be done, then people will go against you. This will only hurt the government. Do what is right,” Wangchuk said.
Targeting the Centre, Wangchuk said the paramilitary forces come under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). “But they are behind their own people, the ones like me, our youth,” Wangchuk said.
The Centre came under criticism for deploying paramilitary units when the CJP gave a protest call earlier this month.
Wangchuk’s remarks also came after the Ladakh administration defended its decision to cancel the land allotment to the Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, Ladakh (HIAL), citing the activist’s “disregard for the law” and stating that the allotment had automatically lapsed due to unpaid dues and failure to execute the lease deed.
The activist said the government should give top priority to the security of the country.
“We have started using paramilitary forces frequently for internal security, but our borders must be safe. Paramilitary (forces) should be the ones protecting the borders,” he said.
“I have seen in Ladakh the salami slicing in which China is inching inside. That happens when the focus loses (moves away) from the border, especially in the winter when paramilitary forces are deployed for other work. By the time they return, China has already entered and then it becomes difficult to push them back,” he claimed.
The MHA must focus on the country’s borders so that the enemy does not cross them, he said, adding that paramilitary forces should be under the Ministry of Defence and not the MHA.
“If the MHA wants to target civilians, then borders should be handed over to the Ministry of Defence,” Wangchuk asserted.
At the event, Wangchuk said people living in a region should have the right to decide how it is managed, as they are the ones who bear the consequences of its neglect.
“And going by that principle, I say Ladakh should have a say in how Ladakh is managed. That is all we are saying, basically. And for that, you need some form of democracy. Democracy where people or people’s representatives make decisions about the place, keeping in view not just today, but the long-term future of their children, which only people who have to live there will do,” he said.
The activist was placed under preventive detention in September 2025, following violent protests in Ladakh. He was held under the National Security Act until his release in March this year.
Wangchuk said Ladakh, after the 2019 bifurcation (of Jammu and Kashmir), has become like a former colony with a viceroy, not from London, but from New Delhi, who decides how people live and manage Ladakh.
“Now, even with the best of intentions, we have no problems; people may come from Mumbai or Chennai. The only problem is that they wouldn’t know much about such a distinct ecology.
“Just as I would be the most unfit person to become the leader or chief minister of Maharashtra, similarly, somebody from Delhi will not be the fittest and best caretaking person for Ladakh,” he added.
(PTI News)
