Ladakhi innovator Sonam Wanchuk who inspired Amir Khan to play role as school teacher in movie 3 Idiots, was on hunger strike for 21 days. He was only drinking water and consuming salt and sleeping in extremely cold weather to highlight the damage to Ladakh’s fragile ecology and glaciers by industrialisation as well as to protest what locals call encroachment by China.
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.
While launching a 21-day hunger strike, Wangchuk had raised challenges related to the climate. “Today our planet is going through huge challenges, environmental challenges, global warming, climate change and no where else this challenge can be seen more than in the Himalayas, than in the Tibetan plateau,” he had said on March 6.
He has also raised the demand for statehood for Ladakh and its inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. In an appeal to the Prime Minister, he said, “Sharing the unfair treatment meted out to people of Ladakh on Safeguards under 6th Schedule of constitution…4 years of dilly dallying and a No in the end… after making clear promises in 2 elections in written manifestos.”
In August 2019, Ladakh was split from Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of the Article 370 — that stripped the region of its statehood and semi-autonomy.
Nearly five years ago, when Ladakh was declared a separate Union Territory, the people celebrated. But now, “People in Ladakh are disillusioned and feel they have been taken for a ride. I can only say that they (the BJP) only think about elections and how many seats they can get, but forget about people,” Wangchuk said.
Wangchuk concluded his 21-day hunger strike. In a video message at the end of his fast, Wangchuk said, “Today is an important day. The first phase has ended but the hunger strike has not come to a close. After me, women will begin a 10-day fast tomorrow. This will be followed by youth, Buddhist monks. Then, it could be women or I could come back. This cycle will go on. As many as 6,000 people, from all religions, joined me in a one-day fast.”
“We are trying to remind and awaken the conscience of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah to safeguard the fragile ecosystems of the Himalayan mountains of Ladakh and the unique indigenous tribal cultures that thrive here. We don’t want to think of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah as just politicians. We would rather like to think of them as statesman but for that they will have to show some character and far-sightedness,” he continued.
