Leh turned into war zone, says activist Wangchuk

Leh, NT Bureau: Accusing the administration of turning Leh into a “war zone” ahead of its march to the China border on April 7, the Leh Apex Body (LAB) on Saturday said it is withdrawing the proposed event to “avoid any sort of confrontation with the lawenforcement agencies”.

Addressing a press conference here, LAB leaders, including its chairman Chering Dorjay and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, said they have already achieved their objective of creating awareness among the people of the country about the plight of farmers, who are allegedly losing prime pasture land to huge industrial plants in the south and to “Chinese encroachments” in the north.

“Looking at the prevailing situation (in Leh), this government acts like a mad elephant having no care for national security or people’s sentiments and their problems. Its only concern is winning elections and it can stop people from marching even at the cost of using violence.

“We are concerned about national security and the peaceful atmosphere. Secondly, our aim to generate awareness in the country about the ground situation in Ladakh has been achieved, so we are withdrawing the proposed border march in the interest of people and to avoid confrontation with the law-enforcement agencies,” Wangchuk told reporters.