Elections alone don’t make a country a democracy, it becomes one only when the voice of the people is heard, climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who has been sitting on a fast in Delhi for the last 14 days, said. Wangchuk, who led a padayatra from Leh to Delhi, was detained last month with several of his supporters and later released.

Since then, he has been sitting on an indefinite fast at Ladakh Bhawan here with about two dozen of his supporters, demanding a meeting with the country’s top leadership. There has been no communication from the government so far regarding any meeting. The activist, who has been subsisting on salt-water solution since October 6, also rued that his supporters were being stopped from meeting him by heavy barricading erected around the building, which got a separate identity after being split from Jammu and Kashmir Bhawan. Frail after days of fasting, Wangchuk spoke softly but minced no words.