Ladakh
Ladakh was better off with JK: Sonam Wangchukh on final day of his hunger strike
‘The administration in Ladakh is trying hard to sow seeds of militancy in the peaceful region’
Ladakh: Magsaysay Award recipient Sonam Wangchuk, who was on five-day fast at the rooftop of his Himalayan Institute of Alternatives Ladakh demanding the region’s inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, said that he now thinks Ladakhis were better-off as part of the pre-2019 Jammu and Kashmir state.
Wangchuk, who is also an education reformist and innovator, was earlier asked by the administration of Ladakh to sign a bond promising that he will not make any statements or participate in any public gatherings over recent happenings in Leh for one month.
According to The Indian Express, when he asked the officials what would happen if he didn’t sign the bond, he was told that he could be detained.
“I am happy. I will go to jail. A man who didn’t fear the -40°C at Khardung La will (not) fear your detention,” he was quoted as saying.
The engineer and innovator-turned-climate activist, according to The Indian Express report, said that the administration in Ladakh is “trying hard to sow seeds of militancy in the peaceful region”.
Earlier, the administration disallowed him to travel to Khardungla pass to protest along with other supporters of his cause. Khardungla pass is around 17,852 feet above sea level.
He wants Modi to immediately call the leaders across Ladakh for a meeting to discuss their demands to safeguard the land, ecology, culture, and employment for the region.
“It seems they are not worried about my security but they are worried that their failures will be highlighted from the heights of Khardungla,” Wangchuk said earlier.
“For the last three years everything has gone astray in Ladakh and the system is a total failure…on Republic Day my movement was restricted…this is like a banana republic and a dictatorial state,” he added.
