Elections alone don’t make a democracy, people’s voice must also be heard: Wangchuk
New Delhi: Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk has said that elections alone don’t make a country a democracy, it becomes one only when the voice of the people is heard
According to Kashmir Media Service, Sonam Wangchuk, who has been sitting on an indefinite hunger strike at Ladakh Bhawan in New Delhi with about two dozen of his supporters, demanding a meeting with the country’s top leadership.
Wanghcuk in a media interview said, “As you can see, there are restrictions here (at Ladakh Bhawan). They are controlling who can come inside and who can’t. They are not even allowing people to assemble in the park here. Perhaps there is some fear of the support we are getting. They are scared of people who want to sit quietly on a fast.”
Wangchuk said what happened to them since they came to Delhi cannot be called democratic.
“Despite all this, they (government) are not even ready to listen. I do not know how to call it democracy… Only elections don’t make a country a democracy, you have to respect people and people’s voice. I am sad for democracy, that too for the world’s biggest democracy,” he added.
Asked about the sallies, he said, “It is unfortunate that those who are patriots are being called anti-India. They should instead work on converting those who are anti-India into patriots. This is misplaced hard work.”
The activists continue to spend nights in the open. They sit in a small park right at the gate of Ladakh Bhawan during the day, with some basic mattresses and mosquito nets, which came after days of protest, as means of comfort.
“So far no one has approached us. We will keep sitting here. We are not in any hurry. As the protest continues, perhaps the government would listen,” he said.
On September 30, Wangchuk, along with 150 others, was detained from Delhi’s Singhu border, where hundreds of police personnel were deployed on the day they arrived.
