Reiterating the demand for statehood and the Sixth Schedule for Ladakh as a three-day hunger strike is set to start in Kargil from Saturday, climate activist Sonam Wangchuk said on Friday that they are prepared to take their movement ahead, and can even march to Delhi again if required.
In an interview with PTI ahead of the hunger strike under the banner of Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) on Saturday, Wangchuk said while statehood for Jammu and Kashmir is being talked about, Ladakh has been ignored.
The Magsaysay Award-winner rued that the talks of Ladakh groups, which include members of the KDA and Leh Apex Body (LAB), with the home ministry is again stuck, as no date for the next meeting has been announced. ”I am saying this with sadness. There have been lot of delays in the dialogue. In the last eight months, the conversation has been held only twice,” Wangchuk told PTI. He said discussions on the main issues — Sixth Schedule and statehood — have not even started yet. Wangchuk said the delays have led to dissatisfaction brewing among people in Ladakh, and as the Dalai Lama is in Leh right now, it was decided that the protest will be held in Kargil. ”The leaders said that there is the revered Dalai Lama in Ladakh right now.
So, we should not do such a protest while he is present. There should not be instability. So, the leaders of Kargil are raising this issue,” he said. Wangchuk said they’re still hopeful that the government will understand their pain and address their demands, but added that they are ready to march to Delhi many more times if required. ”We do not have any intention to come to Delhi again… But if this continues, if there is no democracy, we will have to take such steps,” he said. ”There can be a long hunger strike of five-six weeks… Even if we have to come from Leh to Delhi ten times, we will do that. The world should see how difficult it is to follow Gandhi’s path,” he said.
"So it is possible that this time we come in September and reach Delhi on 2nd October again…” he said. Wangchuk stressed that the Sixth Schedule was an electoral promise of the BJP during the last elections of the Hill Council, and it should be fulfilled. He also said while the issue of giving statehood to Jammu and Kashmir is being talked about, Ladakh has been left out. ”Statehood is the basis of democracy… When J-K and Ladakh were separated, both were democratic states, so both should get statehood,” he said. ”Everyone is talking about J-K. It is a good thing.
I am hopeful that the government will also give them statehood. But we should also talk about Ladakh. ”People of Ladakh have difficult lives living in a border area, yet they stand shoulder to shoulder with the Indian Army… There is no war in which the people of Ladakh have not played an important role,” he said. ”I think this is very short-sighted. Some leaders are doing this for the benefit of some companies with a narrow perspective. But it will cause a lot of damage to the country, which can unfortunately affect our security,” he said.
On the Sixth Schedule, he pointed out that more than 95 per cent of its population consists of tribals. While stating that infrastructure has improved in Ladakh since it was made into a Union Territory, he said locals, however, say that development is also there on the other side of India-China border, but without freedom, development is meaningless. ”People say that there has been a lot of progress and development. By progress, I mean that roads have been built,” he said. ”On the other hand, people also say that how can people be happy only with money and development? Is there less development in China? There is a lot of development there too. But are the people of Tibet happy? No…” he said.”If people of Ladakh are kept out and Ladakh is developed, then it will be a cage made of gold,” he said. Ladakh, which was separated from Jammu and Kashmir and carved out into a Union Territory in 2019 after abrogation of Article 370, has witnessed a series of protests over the last few years with demand for safeguards under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, and statehood being among the key demands.
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