 "Sonam Wangchuk, lying under blankets, is surrounded by supporters during hunger strike seeking protected status for the region’s people, land and ecology in Leh. AP")
Sonam Wangchuk became a household name in India after his character inspired Aamir Khan’s Phunsukh Wangdu in the 2009 Bollywood hit 3 Idiots. Now he is grabbing international headlines, as he protests in freezing temperatures in Ladakh.
Wangchuk is a man of many epithets – he’s an innovator, engineer, education reformist and climate activist. In recent years, he has been at the forefront of the protests in Ladakh, demanding statehood for the Union Territory and the inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, which provides for some tribal areas to be administered autonomously. He also wants to draw attention to the region’s fragile ecology.
The activist has been on a hunger strike in the cold desert of Ladakh from 6 March. Now the protest is getting bigger – on Saturday, the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) joined the hunger strike.
In mid-February, the Union Territory saw a shutdown in the two districts of Leh and Kargil after a call from the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and the KDA, two influential socio-political groups spearheading the agitation for three years.
Now, the movement has gathered steam as Wangchuk’s fast enters its third week. And is only likely to intensify.
We look at the disappointment that crept in after the abrogation of Article 370, the demands of Ladkah’s locals and Wangchuk’s role in the protest.
What happened in Ladakh post Article 370?
The discontent in Ladakh stems from the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 when the special status for the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was repealed. Ladakh was established as a Union Territory (UT) without a legislature, unlike J&K.
Leh had long fought for the UT status and Ladakhis were delighted , thinking the reorganisation would shield it from the alleged discrimination it faced from Kashmir-centric parties. The region is dominated by Buddhists. The Muslim-dominated Kargil was apprehensive; their primary demand was statehood.
Before the abrogation, Ladakh was represented by four members in the J&K Assembly and two in the Legislative Council. The Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils of Leh and Kargil was formed to administer the region but it has limited powers. The lack of political representation became concerning.
Soon the locals of both the regions started growing uneasy and angry. They are worried that if non-locals and industrialists throng to the region it will impact its demography and will eventually lead to alienation. They are concerned about the protection of their land and employment.
Ahead of the 2019 polls, the BJP has promised that Ladakh would be brought under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution because 97 per cent of its population is indigenous. But that remains unfulfilled.
Also read: What has changed in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370?
At first, the LAB and KDA raised their demands separately. But the two sides came together and put forth their four-point agenda, which includes statehood for Ladakh, safeguards under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, reservation of jobs for the youth of Ladakh, and creation of separate parliamentary constituencies for the two parts of the region.
Several rounds of talks have been held in New Delhi between representatives of Ladakh and the Union home ministry, but little progress has been made. The representatives from KDA and LAB also met Union home minister Amit Shah in early March but there has been no headway.
The resentment started growing and took the form of protests. In the past four years, there have been several shutdowns and demonstrations.
What do we know about the latest protests?
Wangchuk has been at the centre of the protests in Ladakh. He went on a hunger strike last January and is fasting once again. The KDA has joined him.
The entire leadership of KDA, along with over 200 volunteers, assembled at Hussaini Park on Sunday morning and started the three-day hunger strike in solidarity with Wangchuk, who has been on a “climate fast” in Leh.
The demonstration is in support of the four-point demands that include statehood and Ladakh’s inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. This Schedule contains provisions regarding the administration of tribal areas in the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
Once included in this Schedule, Ladakh will be able to form Autonomous District and Regional Councils (ADCs and ARCs), elected bodies with the power to administrate tribal areas. This would include the power to make laws on subjects such as forest management, agriculture, administration of villages and towns, inheritance, marriage, divorce and social customs. A majority of the population in Ladakh belongs to Scheduled Tribes, according to a report in The Indian Express.
Also read: What is Article 371 of Constitution? Will Ladakh get its special provisions?
“The hunger strike is part of the ongoing joint agitation by KDA and Apex Body to press for our four-point demands. Unfortunately, after five rounds of talks with the home ministry, the home minister on 4 March told us that we will be given some constitutional safeguards but not the Statehood and Sixth Schedule of the Constitution,” Asgar Ali Karbalai, the co-chairman of the KDA was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India (PTI).
What is Wangchuk’s role in the protests?
Wagchuk says he is on a climate protest. His campaign seeks to highlight the damage to Ladakh’s fragile ecology and glaciers by industrialisation as well as to protest what locals call encroachment by China.
“We’re already facing climate disaster and these glaciers and mountains will be destroyed if there is not a check on unbridled industrial development and military manoeuvres” in the region, Wangchuk told The Associated Press (AP) on Sunday.
He also said Ladakh critically needs ecological protection because “it’s not just a local disaster in (the) making but an international one as these mountains are part of Greater Himalayas intricately linked to over two billion people and multiple countries.”
According to him, Ladakh nomads were also losing prime pastureland to huge Indian industrial plans and Chinese encroachment. The region’s shepherds complain that Chinese soldiers have captured multiple pasturelands and restricted them from grazing their herds, reports AP.
He wrote on X on Sunday that 2,500 people joined the protest on Sunday. And 60,000 people protested in Leh and Kargil in 20 days even when the population was 300,000.
Earlier Wangchuk had also reiterated the demand for statehood. “Earlier we had four MLAs in the state assembly [of Jammu and Kashmir], now we have zero representation. The L-G, who is an outsider, is sent to govern us. One man decides everything,” he was quoted as saying by The Hindu.
“…90% of the ₹6,000 crore allocated to Ladakh is at the dispensation of a non-elected person. He may make any decision under pressure or financial gain. By the time he understands the issues, it will be time for him to leave. We demand full Statehood so that our voices are heard,” he said.
How has the Centre responded?
It is unlikely that the Centre will grant statehood to Ladakh, accommodate the region’s demand to be included in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, or meet its request for a legislature.
But Amit Shah who met the representatives of Ladakh on 4 March, told them that their concerns about land, jobs and identity would be addressed through special provisions of Article 371 of the Constitution , according to a report by The Indian Express.
Article 371 of the Constitution includes special provisions for 11 states, including six of the Northeast. It would allow protections to be extended to the local population.
What can we expect next?
The people of Ladakh have vowed to continue their fight. The KDA and the Apex Body had unanimously decided to intensify the agitation with the start of the hunger strike by Wangchuk in Leh.
The hunger strikes in Leh and Kargil will end on Monday evening and people have been requested to assemble in the district towns, where the concerned leadership will announce the future course of action, Karbalai told PTI.
Wangchuk’s 21-day strike also ends on Monday. He announced that his protest would take place in stages of 21 days each. Local people and supporters will take turns going on hunger strikes until he regains sufficient strength to fast again, he told Reuters.
With inputs from agencies