Climate activist and educationist Sonam Wangchuk on Saturday said peaceful protests act as a feedback mechanism and encourage governments to perform better, news agency Press Trust of India reported. He cited unrest in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh as examples of what could happen when people are not allowed to express their concerns peacefully.
Speaking at the IPF Festival in Mumbai, Wangchuk said several countries allow protests outside their parliaments. He argued that protests serve as a pressure valve for governments and should not be pushed far away from centres of power.
Wangchuk said protests were allowed outside parliament in countries such as the United Kingdom, Norway and Sweden. Referring to India, he said, “In India, it was far from Parliament Even when it was just Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, it was too far.”
“So, protests are a great mechanism, a feedback, a pressure valve for governments to perform better if they see that,” he said.
His remarks came amid action by the Centre after the Cockroach Janta Party called for a 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 people should not need permission to hold protests and that permissions should instead help authorities monitor events taking place in a city, including festivals. Speaking to reporters, according to PTI, Wangchuk said peaceful protests on the streets were a constitutional right.
Commenting on the arrest of protesters, including CJP leaders, he said, “You don't kill the messenger. Take the message.”
Wangchuk had earlier 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 examination. “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,” he said.
Wangchuk also criticised the deployment of paramilitary forces against protesters. “But they are behind their own people, the ones like me, our youth,” he said, noting that such forces come under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Centre had faced criticism for deploying paramilitary units after the CJP called for a protest earlier this month.
His remarks came after the Ladakh administration defended its decision to cancel the land allotment to the Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, Ladakh. The administration cited Wangchuk's “disregard for the law” and said the allotment had automatically lapsed because dues had not been paid and the lease deed had not been executed.
Wangchuk said the government should give top priority to national security. “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.
He claimed that China was gradually moving into areas along the Ladakh border when attention and personnel were diverted elsewhere, particularly during winter. “By the time they return, China has already entered and then it becomes difficult to push them back,” he said.
Wangchuk said the Ministry of Home Affairs should focus on securing the country's borders and argued that paramilitary forces should be placed under the Ministry of Defence. “If the MHA wants to target civilians, then borders should be handed over to the Ministry of Defence,” he said.
At the event, Wangchuk also said people living in a region should have the right to decide how it is managed because they bear the consequences of 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,” he said.
He called for a democratic system in which local people or their representatives could make decisions while considering the long-term future of their children. Wangchuk said those who lived in the region were best placed to make such decisions.
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 that after the 2019 bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh had become like a former colony governed by a viceroy from New Delhi rather than London. He said administrators from other parts of the country might have good intentions but would not necessarily understand Ladakh's 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 said.
Wangchuk's remarks focused on the right to peaceful protest, the deployment of paramilitary forces, border security and his demand for greater democratic participation by the people of Ladakh in decisions affecting the region.
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