New Delhi: Ladakh is being treated like a “colony”, climate activist Sonam Wangchuk told The Wire on Wednesday (October 9) at Ladakh Bhavan in Delhi during a meeting with the media.
Around 20 people from Ladakh, led by Wangchuk, are on the fourth day of their indefinite fast here, in an effort to get the Union government to give them a date to meet top leaders to discuss their demands, including statehood for Ladakh and the implementation of the sixth schedule.
Wangchuk and around 150 people from Ladakh reached Singhu at Delhi’s border with Haryana on September 30 as part of a ‘Climate March’ to highlight the concerns that Ladakh, its people and its environment are facing.
However, before they could walk into New Delhi, the Delhi police detained Wangchuk and many others.
On the night of October 2 – nearly 48 hours into their indefinite fast in protest of their detention – many were released at Rajghat. They broke their fast there on the Union government’s ‘guarantee’, according to Wangchuk, that they would be given an audience with top leaders to discuss Ladakh’s demands.
That guarantee has not materialised yet, prompting Wangchuk and his supporters to begin indefinite fasts on October 6.
On October 9, the Delhi high court also asked the Delhi police to state their stand on Wangchuk’s and his supporters’ plea to conduct their indefinite fasts at Jantar Mantar.
On October 5 and 6, members from the contingent had submitted written requests to the police asking for permission to do so, but the Delhi police turned them down stating that there was “no provision” to conduct fasts of this kind at the location.
Currently, there is no legislature in Ladakh and its condition is like that of a “colony”, Wangchuk told The Wire on October 9.
Among Wangchuk and his supporters’ chief demands, as communicated to the Union government through their Climate March from Leh to Delhi from September 1 to October 2, as well as a memorandum they submitted at Rajghat on October 2, are that the government implement the sixth schedule in the Union territory (this will designate it as a tribal area and tribal communities will thus have more say in its administration), and that Ladakh also be given statehood so that it can have its own legislative assembly.
Currently, the lieutenant governor – who is appointed by the president – takes all decisions and local communities have no say in administrative matters, Wangchuk and his supporters – including members of the Leh Apex Body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance – have repeatedly said.
“If you keep Ladakh as it is now, Ladakh will be a colony,” Wangchuk said. “In a colony, nobody is permitted to speak. We are in that situation now.”
Wangchuk told The Wire that it is not good for the country that the people of Ladakh, who live on the sensitive border with China, are made to feel that nobody cares to listen to them.
‘Not good for the country’
“We’re not saying that we will leave only with statehood status. What we’re asking is that the process of review – which has been stopped now – be restarted again … the process has stopped for the past 5-6 months, nothing has happened,” he said.
Wangchuk added: “It is not good for the country either that on the sensitive border people are made to feel that nobody is listening to them … and that people want to exploit their mountains and glaciers, but nobody wants to listen to them. It is not good for the country.”
In 2019, the Union government abrogated Article 370, which previously gave special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir and carved out two Union territories – Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh – from it.
Wangchuk said that Ladakh had been requesting that it be designated a Union territory for seventy years, but was told that as long as Article 370 existed, that was not possible. So when Article 370 was removed, what Ladakh celebrated was its recognition as a Union territory and not the abrogation of Article 370 per se, Wangchuk clarified to The Wire.
“The hope was that if it becomes a [Union territory], it becomes a meaningful [Union territory] that has an assembly so that there are elected representatives,” he said.
He added that the demands of the leaders of Ladakh, including from the Leh Apex Body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance, are that Ladakh be included in the sixth schedule, that it be recognised as a state and that it gets a public service commission so that youth can get jobs in government positions.
“As an environmentalist, I see that their demands are ideal for the environment and the glaciers of Ladakh,” he said. “With the sixth schedule, locals will be made responsible for the protection of their environment, cultures, forests and rivers.
“Across the Himalayas, locals are best suited for protecting the environment instead of officers or companies from elsewhere … companies want electricity, solar, limestone, minerals … they will take it all, and use and throw … locals will have to bear the brunt.”
For instance, a huge solar plant is coming up on Ladakh’s pasturelands and this would be detrimental to the indigenous community who graze their goats there, Wangchuk said. The power that is produced here will go to cities and not to Ladakh, which is why one of his requests of people living in cities is that they consume fewer resources so that people in the mountains can at least live, he added.
“This is not a demand we are making of the Union government alone, but a demand we are making of every citizen, please reduce your consumption … we are not ready to accept the decimation of the Himalaya for overconsumption by people. If you reduce your demand by half, then the supply too will be able to decrease by half, and the Himalaya too will face only half the loss it is facing now,” Wangchuk said.
Calls for Sunday fast in support of Himalayas
In posts on his social media handles on Wednesday night, Wangchuk said that many people had asked him how they could help or contribute to the cause. He said that the best way to show support for the Himalaya would be to undertake a day’s fast or vrath on Sunday to show solidarity with him and other Ladakhis.
Another way to contribute, Wangchuk said, was to also conduct peaceful padyatras or walks in their respective cities on Sunday to raise awareness about the environment.
Wangchuk welcomed those in Delhi to come and fast with him and other Ladakhis in support of the Himalaya on Sunday at the park opposite Ladakh Bhavan.
“However, it will be a silent fast,” he said.
Delhi HC seeks police’s response
The Delhi high court on Wednesday ordered the Delhi police to submit their response to a plea seeking permission for Wangchuk and his others to conduct their fasts at Jantar Mantar.
The police had denied them permission in a written communication on October 6.
The plea filed by the Leh Apex Body in the court stated that Delhi police had failed to provide any valid reasons for denying their request to conduct the protest at Jantar Mantar. The plea said that the denial of permission to hold their peaceful protest violated the fundamental right to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly, reported Bar and Bench.
“Delhi police could have exercised their discretion to grant permission for the anshan at an alternative location, rather than outright denying the request, which directly contravenes the fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(b) of the Constitution of India,” Bar and Bench quoted the plea as saying.
A division bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Amit Sharma asked the Delhi police to respond to the plea by October 16.
The case will now be heard on October 22.