A file picture of Sonam Wangchuk during his 21-day-long hunger strike in support of the demand for statehood for Ladakh
Credit: Reuters Photo
Social activist and Magsaysay Award winner Sonam Wangchuk has ended his 21-day fast without a promise from the government on his demands for Ladakh but he succeeded in drawing national and even international attention to the needs and demands of the region. The demands relate to protection of the fragile ecology of the region, formulation of a development strategy suited to it, and granting statehood to the Union Territory. The demands found total support in the region, as the people had themselves raised them for some years. Almost the entire population of the region was involved in it, with many of them fasting with Wangchuk and others participating in it in other ways. Ladakh, part of which is known as the Third Pole, is highly sensitive to climate change crisis and has already started feeling its impact. Glaciers are receding at a fast pace and abnormal temperature variations are occurring regularly. The average temperatures have risen, the snowfall is late and irregular, and rainfall has increased.
Wangchuk has drawn attention to these issues and to the need for a development model which suits the ecology of the region and a political and governance structure which would support it. Tourism has been an important part of the region’s economy, but it cannot be promoted beyond a point because that would harm the fragile environment. The proposals for a mega airport in Leh and a solar park spread over 20,000 hectares in the Changthang pastures have caused serious concern among the people. The demand for extending the Sixth Schedule to Ladakh has been made because it will help to protect the region’s unique social and cultural identity and give the region’s own administration better control over policies for its development. After the abrogation of Article 370, the administration has no power of self-governance. There is strong opposition in the region to the 2023 Industrial Land Allotment Policy which has no representation of the local people in it.
Wangchuk has said that the people of the region are losing prime pasture land, which is vital for their life and lifestyle, to industrial plants to the south and Chinese encroachment to the north. He is planning a Border March of 10,000 Ladakhi shepherds and farmers soon. He has pointed out that the BJP had promised inclusion of Ladakh in the Sixth Schedule in its 2019 election manifesto, but failed to keep the promise in these five years. Wangchuk’s fast has resonated beyond Ladakh not only because his cause is genuine but also because it is relevant in other parts of the country and the world. It underlines the need for development to be centred around people and to be sensitive to ecology, especially in a time of climate crisis.