New Delhi: Educator and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk has written to Union home minister Amit Shah and Ladakh Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena contesting an order which prohibits him from “engaging in any activity, organising or participating in any unauthorised rally, procession or public gathering” for 60 days, The Tribune has reported. Wangchuk said that the imposition curtails his right to freedom of movement and speech. On November 12, Wangchuk had said that he has been placed under house arrest at his university residence in Leh. The development follows police removing him from a protest site in Leh a day earlier, and escorting him to his residence.“The imposition of the Model Code of Conduct, as recorded in the order, cannot, by itself, be invoked as a blanket justification to curtail this right or to impose restrictions that effectively confine me to my residence, in the absence of any intervening reason,” he wrote, adding that the right to peaceful protest is a fundamental right guaranteed to every citizen. Wangchuk also spotlighted the purportedly vague nature of the order passed by the district administration, writing that phrases such as “house arrest” and “detention” are conspicuously absent. “It nowhere directs me to remain at my residence – a direction given orally to me by the personnel who picked me up and are now present outside my house.” he said. “The order does not mention the scope or extent of the restrictions imposed on my movement, leaving their implementation to the discretion of the police personnel deployed.” On November 11, Wangchuk said he was “forcefully pushed” into a vehicle by a group of masked men without being informed where he was being taken. Police personnel in civil dress, as well as one uniformed officer, entered a tent on the site of a planned demonstration. “I was told to remain at home under the supervision of police guards. Since that evening, dozens of armed police personnel (approximately twenty to twenty-two) have been stationed at and around my residence and continue to remain deployed there as I write this representation,” Wangchuk said, going on to emphasise the arbitrary nature of the order. “The order discloses no reasons justifying the necessity or proportionality of such an extended restriction, nor does it identify any continuing emergency/threat attributable to me that would warrant restraints of such duration,” he said. The people of Ladakh are currently protesting against the timing of the hill council elections, which are supposed to be held on December 4, in the thick of winter. Protesters have flagged the timing of the election – which spans eight districts – as it is when Ladakh sees seasonal migration and oppressive weather conditions. A combination of the two could potentially result in a low-voter turnout.