Environmentalist says his fast a ‘battle for truth, environment & democracy’ as others call for ‘People’s Commission for Himalayas’
A screen grab of Sonam Wangchuk addressing the webinar Environmentalist Sonam Wangchuk, currently on a 21-day fast to demand the implementation of the Indian Constitution’s Sixth Schedule and statehood for the Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh, said on March 24, 2024 that his movement’s aim was to prevent tragedies that have occurred across fellow Himalayan regions like Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Sikkim over the past few decades from taking place in the fragile cold desert region.
Wangchuk, who sounded weak due to the effects of fasting, was addressing a webinar organised by civil society organisations including Vikalp Sangam, the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and the National Alliance of People’s Movements.
“This fast for Ladakh is now a battle for the truth, the environment and democracy. When we became a UT (in 2019), it was our hope that the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution would provide the protection needed by this land, its air and water as well its indigenous tribal peoples, who form 97 per cent of the population,” said Wangchuk.
He added:
The ruling party (in New Delhi) had promised this in their manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections as well as local council elections. But some years down the line, it became a crime to even remind about these promises as it invited reprisals such as threats and intimidation.
If you promise something for electoral benefits and then forget it, there would be no accountability left, whether from the government or people. India will then become a banana republic. What will be our international standing then, asked Wangchuk.
He also claimed that Ladakh was now “being treated like a colony”.
“A commissioner or deputy governor, who does not have a connect with the locals, usually governs the area for three years and then leaves. There is no problem in their being non-Ladakhi. However, even if their intentions are good, they will not understand the context of the region,” stated Wangchuk.
According to the 2018 Magsaysay Awardee, Ladakh is a landscape that resembles Mars more than Earth.
Well-intentioned rulers will make mistakes, the brunt of which Ladakhis will have to bear. Ill-intentioned bureaucrats will likely sell the mountains, valleys and our unique ecosystem to corporates.
“We will have nothing left. We have seen what has happened in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Sikkim. We want to prevent something like that being replicated here,” he said.
Read DTE Coverage: Sikkim Disaster 2023, as it happened
He added that his well-wishers were concerned about his health, “as they say it is important for this movement that I stay fit”.
“We are thus contemplating ‘relay fasting’. After me, women will fast for 10 days, followed by youth, bhikkus (Buddhist monks), elders and nomads (like the Changpa),” informed Wangchuk.
He added that Ladakh was a sensitive and strategic border area where India was squaring off against Pakistan and China. It was thus important that the Centre kept local sentiment with it, rather than seeking to alienate the local population.
Wangchuk also questioned the Centre for granting Ladakh UT status but refusing the Sixth Schedule or statehood. “All we are asking is that we should have our own legislature, where representatives elected by the people can make laws and govern according to the writ of the people. What is wrong in that?” he asked.
The webinar was addressed by several other speakers from Ladakh (Leh and Kargil districts) as well as around the country.
Ladakhi speakers included Sajjad Hussain Kargili and Mustafa Haji from the Kargil Democratic Alliance; Tsewang Namgail from the Snow Leopard Conservancy Trust; Chering Dorjay from the Leh Apex Body; Kunzang Deachen from Local Futures Ladakh and Karma Sonam from the Nature Conservation Foundation.
Medha Patkar of the Narmada Bachao Andolan; Aruna Roy of the Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh Samiti; writer-activist Harsh Mander; Om Prakash Bhuraita and Vijay Bhatt of the Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti (BGVS); Henri Tipaghne of People’s Watch; Shekhar Pathak of PAHAR; columnist and writer Apoorvanand and Mihir Desai and Suresh V of the PUCL were the other speakers.
Namgail laid emphasis on the unique landscape and biodiversity of Ladakh, home to over 90 per cent of the Trans-Himalayan bio geographical zone within India.
“Ladakh’s wildlife has been sustaining the people in its remote mountains and valleys for centuries. The snow leopard controls the population of wild sheep and goats (caprids such as bharal or blue sheep, markhor and ibex). This prevents overgrazing, which in turn, promotes plant regeneration on the slopes. And that prevents flooding. So, you can see the ecological link between snow leopard populations and flooding,” he said.
Read World Snow Leopard Day 2023: Is it time for a Third Pole mascot?
Namgail added that most rivers on the Asian continent originate in the Himalayan or High Asia habitat (including Ladakh), also known as the Third Pole.
“If we do not pay attention to and conserve wildlife populations in these mountains, water for drinking as well as irrigation for a third of the world’s population would be impacted,” warned Namgail.
He also highlighted the fact that animals in the Trans-Himalaya had home ranges that were spread across human-made borders over hundreds or even thousands of kilometres, unlike animals in India’s plains. This was because resources in High Asia were scattered and dispersed over a huge area. Animals like snow leopards thus had to travel over a large territory to find sustenance.
Read International Snow Leopard Day: How climate change affects the charismatic cat
Similarly, Changpa herders of goats that provide the world-famous cashemere or pashmina wool also had to range over huge areas for their livestock’s fodder.
Pashmina was so important that the Dogra rulers of Jammu and Kashmir, who declared sovereignty in the wake of the British takeover of Punjab’s Sikh Kingdom in 1849, had invaded Ladakh for it.
“The movement for Ladakhi statehood is not just for us, but for the water security of the entire country… It behooves all citizens of this country to protect this fragile landscape,” said Namgail.
Chering Dorjay of the Leh Apex Body, who was part of talks with the Centre, claimed that there had been no serious discussion on the main demands of those asking for statehood and the implementation of the Sixth Schedule.
“They talked about empowering the two autonomous councils in Ladakh (Leh and Kargil) and setting up an advisory council, whom the councils would report to. That is already existent in the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils Act, 1997 although we have not set up such a council. Talks have failed, although the Centre gave the impression that they were on even after our last meeting on March 4,” said Dorjay.
Read DTE Coverage: ‘Arid winter’ in the Himalayas
Medha Patkar said Ladakh was symbolic of the need for a new development paradigm, rather than the existent one of extraction from nature. She added that it was also a question of climate justice.
“Ladakh is heading towards an uncertain, perhaps destructive future, all in the name of development. Its natural resources are under attack in the name of large-scale tourism, hydel and even solar power. We should raise the same questions on Ladakh as we have raised on the Narmada Valley and Joshimath,” said Patkar, who spearheaded the movement against the Sardar Sarovar Project in the 1980s and 1990s.
She added:
Ladakh has just witnessed an arid winter with no snowfall. It is either this or large-scale flooding. If the government does not act on Ladakh then international commitments made by India in Rio (1992), Copenhagen (2009) or Paris (2015) ring hollow.
The demands of statehood and Sixth Schedule are valid under the Indian Constitution. We know statehood is not a silver bullet or panacea to problems, as has been seen in the case of Uttarakhand. But demanding it is not unconstitutional. Similarly, the efficacy of the Sixth Schedule has been seen in the Northeast, said Patkar.
Om Prakash Bhuraita, general secretary, BGVS, said:
We have seen Himalayan tragedies in Himachal and Joshimath, as in Ladakh. In all these instances, the corporate-political nexus which believes in extracting natural resources without the consent or benefit of local populations is evident.
Himachal saw huge destruction last year. People died and property worth crores was destroyed. All because of projects promoting tourism, hydel power and four-lane highways, he added.
The state currently had 168 hydel projects which the government planned to increase to 1,000 by 2030.
“There should be a People’s Commission for Himalayas in which issues of people from Jammu and Kashmir to the Northeast should find a voice. There should be a united movement to protect the Himalayas,” said Bhuraita.
Educate, advertise and advocate for the Himalayas. Our plains won’t survive if we do not save the Himalayas, he warned.
Read Fight for land
Vijay Bhatt, also from the BGVS, noted that Sonam Wangchuk’s fast was a movement not just for Ladakh but the Himalayas.
“We in Uttarakhand may have become a state. But the planning for it is still centralised and decided by people who want to implement the (extractive) development paradigm. We have consequently seen the impact in the form of incidents such as Kedarnath, Dhauliganga, the Silkyara Tunnel, the Vishnugad project and the sinking of Joshimath. But the authorities are indifferent,” said Bhatt.
Shekhar Pathak of PAHAR, voiced similar sentiments. Wangchuk’s fast was about constitutional rights, environmental rights and the rights of Himalayan communities.
Wangchuk and others were speaking for the Indus, Suru, Shyok, Nubra and other rivers of Ladakh.
“They are speaking on behalf of the Siachen Glacier, the Tso Moriri and Pangong Tso lakes, the Changpa herders, the Pashmina breed of goats, for the unique traditions of Ladakhi Buddhism and Islam and for the community of the blue-eyed Drokpa people,” said Pathak.
Read DTE Coverage: Why is Joshimath sinking?
Ladakh was symbolic of what was happening in the Himalayas. “The people of Joshimath are fighting for their rights since the last one-and-a-half years. So are the Lepchas of Sikkim after last year’s floods,” he said.
“The Sixth Schedule can have very positive impacts. In the Northeast, one can see how rights under it are as important as the ones for states. It has enabled the conservation of languages of the region such as Kokborok, Khasi and others,” he noted.
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