Ladakh-based Sonam Wangchuk has emerged as one of the world’s leading environmentalists. In 2018, he was conferred the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award in recognition for his work on community-driven reforms which focused on the youth. A true Gandhian, he is using the principles of non-violence protest and fasting to bring home to the world and to the Indian public (read government) the need for granting greater autonomy to Ladakh to give local communities the right to protect their fragile environment and water resources.
On January 26, 2023, he undertook a five-day climate fast in freezing minus-20° temperatures to highlight how important it was for Ladakh to be granted the Sixth Schedule status in order to get legal protection to take care of their region’s resources. The fast was undertaken in Leh’s iconic Polo Ground and in an overwhelming show of solidarity, hundreds of young and old people joined him in the fast. The government did not accede to their demands and so he went on a fast this year in March for 21 days.
The government paid no heed and so he and his band of 100 eco-warriors, which included an 80-year-old, undertook a padyatra covering over 1000 kilometres in order to reach Delhi on Gandhi Jayanti to mark the birth anniversary of another great environmentalist, Mahatma Gandhi. This “Delhi Chalo Padyatra” was jointly organised by the Leh Apex Body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance who have been demanding restoration of statehood, extension of the Sixth Schedule to this region, the setting up of a Public Services Commission for Ladakh and separate Lok Sabha seats for Leh and Kargil districts.
In the course of an email interview earlier Wangchuk explained, “When Ladakh was declared a Union Territory, we were delighted and initially, the BJP was also very enthusiastic about the Sixth Schedule. All Central ministries concerned with its implementation — the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs — assured us of its quick implementation. The BJP had made it a top priority in its election manifesto, so we were convinced they would deliver on it. Five years have passed, and it has not been introduced. Today, the situation is such that it has become a crime to utter ‘Sixth Schedule’. Those who raise this issue are arrested, and FIRs are lodged against them.”
The Ladakhi people have been demanding the Sixth Schedule in order to safeguard their tribal culture. The popular perception in Ladakh is that the reason why they changed their mind was because “post the removal of Article 370 and 35 A, land could now be available for outsiders and some powerful industrial houses have set their eyes on exploiting our resources”.
Said Wangchuk, “It is imperative to safeguard our mountains and glaciers, our distinct ethnicity and Ladakhi culture. This culture has been finely tuned over millennia to adapt and live in harmony with the region’s harsh climate. People from outside cannot understand this. In cities, people are used to consuming up to 600 litres of water a day. We have adapted to survive in just 5 litres.”
“We have always demanded Union Territory status but never without a legislature. The government has made us a Union Territory without a legislature. At present, we have a system where the voices of the people cannot be heard. It’s like a suspended democracy because we are under permanent Lt-Governor rule. It is bad enough for a few months, but now it has become a permanent situation. There is no reason to curtail democracy.
“Jammu and Kashmir have been assured restoration of statehood, so why not us? Why are we being punished? Is it because of our loyalty, or is this not being given to us because we have a small population? When Sikkim became a State, it had a population of 2 lakh people, whereas we are at 3.5 lakh. Without democracy, one person [the Lt Governor] is deciding everything for us. The allocation for Ladakh is Rs 6,000 crore. More than half this money goes back because they [the administration] are unable to utilise it. They [the Lt. Governor and bureaucrats] are new to Ladakh and do not understand the region. By the time they do, it’s time for them to get transferred. A sensitive, fragile place like this, so different from the mainland, cannot be developed with one person taking all decisions. So, we must get statehood. We have regressed. When we were in the [erstwhile] State of Jammu and Kashmir, we had four MLAs who would raise their voice in the Assembly. Now it is zero,” he adds.
Wangchuk is extremely critical of people living in mega cities whose lifestyle is very carbon intensive and climate-unfriendly, and it is the tribal population of Ladakh which is bearing the brunt of their misdeeds. In many of his speeches he has repeated, “Thanks to all of you living in the big cities of London, New York, Paris, Beijing and New Delhi, we bear the brunt of climate change. We have become climate victims by having to cope with emissions emanating from all these places.”
He goes on to add, “We cannot open this region to large populations. Our landscape cannot handle more people and increasing industrial activity. Already, we face a huge water shortage. What will happen if industries move here in large numbers? Very soon, not only Ladakhis, people in the rest of the subcontinent will face climate-related problems.”
Scientists have repeatedly reiterated that the glaciers of Ladakh and the rest of the Himalayas are the largest freshwater reserves in the world and provide water for two billion people, half on the Indian subcontinent and half on the Chinese side. That is why this area is called the Third Pole. Sadly, a recent study by Kashmir University showed that glaciers in Ladakh located next to the highways were melting much faster than those located some distance away. A concerted effort must be made to reduce emissions.
So far, the government has shown no empathy towards their concerns. The Solar Energy Corporation of India and the Power Grid Corporation have been told to prepare a DPR for a large solar project to be set up in the Pang region of Chanthang which in its first stage will require 20,000 acres of land. This is part of an ambitious plan to start a Green Energy Corridor to facilitate the setting of a 13 GW renewable power grid in Ladakh.
Plans are also afoot to start mining projects in this region. The problem is that the area where the solar farm is coming up is the place where nomadic tribes in this region take their cattle for grazing.
Konchok Stanzin, a councillor of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, resigned from the BJP because of their backtracking on the issue of Sixth Schedule. Stanzin, who represents the border area of Chisul which is right on the LAC, has repeatedly warned the Central government on how the Chinese have been “nibbling away at our pasture land first in 1953, then in 1962, then 2020 and again in 2022”. The loss of grazing land means grass is not available for livestock which includes pashmina, goats, yak and horses. With grazing lands shrinking, the younger generation has already started looking for alternate sources of employment.
Wangchuk and other Ladakhi leaders have repeatedly warned that these nomads are the “eyes and ears of the armed forces and the first line of defence for the country” with these pasture lands acting as a vital buffer zone against the Chinese.
Wangchuk has flagged these issues with both the Lt Governor and the centre. Let us see what response he receives this time around.
Rashme Sehgal is an author and an independent journalist
