As Sonam Wangchuk completed his 21-day fast unto death, the climate activist will launch a ‘Pashmina Walk’ to highlight the environmental concerns in Ladakh. As thousands of local people are expected to join the walk, people from Mumbai as well as Maharashtra will also join this walk to express their solidarity with Wangchuk and Ladakh.
Engineer and education reformist Sonam Wangchuk, completed his first 21-day hunger strike with demands of constitutional safeguards for Ladakh’s fragile ecosystem. After his hunger strike, Ladakhi women continued the fast for 10 days, which is now being followed by the youth. Wangchuk has been appealing to the government to fulfil its promise of adding Ladakh to the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution and give statehood for the region.
Nationwide March Declared By Sonam Wangchuk
Taking his movement further, Wangchuk has declared a Pashmina March to the Changthang region of Ladakh to learn about the challenges faced by the shepherds and farmers of the region due to the absence of protection under the sixth schedule. The walk also aims to understand the proportion of land occupied by companies and the extent of encroachment by China in Indian territory.
As around eight thousand people are expected to join the march which will start on April 7, people from across the country are also supposed to join the movement, including four people from Maharashtra. People from different backgrounds and professions have been gathering on a weekly basis under the banner of Friends of Ladakh to meet and express their solidarity towards Wangchuk whereas four of these people will also join the Pashmina March in Ladakh.
Supporters from Mumbai And Maharashtra Join Wangchuk's Movement For Ladakh's Rights
Dilip Jain from Mumbai, founder of Djed Foundation working to resolve the issues surrounding the Himalayas, Sahyadris and Aravalli mountain ranges, had started the movement Friends of Ladakh when Wangchuk started his fast. Dilip will be one of the Mumbaikars who will join the walk to demand the rights for Ladakh.
“I reached Ladakh on the early morning of Friday to join the march. We will walk to learn how much land has been taken over by the industries hampering the livelihood of the herders. The temperature is very extreme here and therefore we are expecting only around 40 to 50 people from outside Ladakh to join this walk,” Jain said.
Similarly , 75-year-old Vinayakrao Patil from Latur district of Maharashtra, who has been working for farmers’ issues, will also join the march to support the cause. “I have been a part of the Kisaan Andolan, Anna Hazare’s andolan as well as the Maratha andolan in the state. Seeing one person fasting for everyone’s betterment in such extreme weather conditions, I thought that I should also support his cause,” said Patil.
Varied Participants Join Wangchuk's Movement For People's Rights
A 67-year-old Suniti Sulabha Raghunath from Pune, who is the national convenor of National Alliance of People’s Movement, will also join the walk to add to her long list of social protests. “I had protested against the Indira Gandhi government during the emergency and since then I have joined many of such people’s movements. Mr. Wangchuk is demanding for the similar issues we at NAPM have been working on which has inspired me to join the walk and ask for people’s rights,” she said.
A young Mumbai-based blogger Kadar Sheikh also decided to join the walk after watching Wangchuk’s videos on social media as he was already travelling to Ladakh as a tourist. In Mumbai, the Friends of Laakh group is also planning to gather on April 7 and carry out activities to spread awareness among Mumbaikars about Wangchuk’s movement.
