A new Ladakh standoff

01/02/2023

Sonam Wangchuk, an engineer-innovator is currently on a five day climate fast from 26 January in Ladakh. He earlier said that he would sit on a five-day Climate Fast at Khardungla pass which is 18,000 ft where the temperature is -40°C. He further updated that as roads to Khardungla is blocked due to heavy snowfall, he is on a fast from HIAL. However, he also later clarified he is under house arrest and the UT administration has restricted his fast to HAIL campus and is not allowed for Khardung La top citing threats to my life and so on. Wangchuk is a man with a mission to save Ladakh from corporate greed. He also sent a message to the Prime Minister saying "all is not well in Ladakh". However, the administration took his hunger strike as a threat and put him under house arrest. What Wangchuk is saying makes a lot of sense as we are seeing catastrophe after catastrophe in the Himalayas and if the mindless construction in the name of development does not stop we may be heading for a calamity sooner than later.
He set up the SECMOL in 1988 with the aim of supporting Ladakhi children and youth and to train the students whom the system termed as failures. In 1994, Wangchuk launched Operation New Hope to bring reforms in the government schools' system. He has also been instrumental in designing the low-cost solar heated buildings made of mud to maintain a formidable temperature in Ladakh winters. Ice Stupa has been yet another pioneering invention towards solving the water crisis facing mountain regions. In 2021, he also built an eco-friendly solar heated tent that Army personnel can use in extremely cold places like Siachen and Galwan valley in the Ladakh region. In November 2022, he was awarded the seventh Dr Paulos Mar Gregorios Award by former Vice President Venkaiah Naidu. One of the key solutions which are also his major demand is extending the Sixth Schedule of the constitution to Ladakh which was promised by the government but has not been kept. The sixth schedule allows for forming autonomous administrative areas where the tribal population is more than 50 percent. The Govt's approach to ignoring Wangchuk's concerns and silencing his voice is not good for the Government or the people of Ladakh. Besides the movement is building up in Ladakh which can snowball into major unrest. Former MP Thupstan Chhewang organized a grand rally against the "failure of the government to protect the identity and culture of Ladakh". So now it is becoming a matter of Ladakhi identity and existential issues that the Government must address. The government must keep its word and fulfill its promise.

Photo Gallery

BSE Sensex

NSE Nifty