Ladakh: Sonam Wangchuk, a well-known climate activist and advocate for better education, ended his hunger strike on Tuesday after surviving for 21 days by only eating salt and drinking water.
He was fasting to demand statehood for Ladakh and to protect the fragile environment of the Himalayas. However, he made it clear that this was just the end of the first part of his protest, and he plans to continue fighting for his causes.
When Wangchuk started his hunger strike on March 6th, he had announced that he would continue for 21 days and might even continue until death if necessary.
In a message shared on X, Wangchuk mentioned that 7,000 people were present when he decided to end his hunger strike. He reassured everyone by saying, “I’ll be back… 7,000 people gathered today. It was the end of the 1st leg of my fast. By the way, 21 days was the longest fast Gandhi ji kept.”
In an interview with India Today, Wangchuk said, “We are not at all against the government of India. We would just appeal GoI not to be against Ladakh. All we are asking is to keep your promises. What’s wrong with that?”
“If you cant, (then) ask somebody to keep your promise, or hold (them) accountable. Then you had better be in China, born in China, not in a democratic country like India. We are just crying under the pain of broken promises and that cannot be presented as anti-national. We are actually saying ‘protect the nation, we are losing land’,” Wangchuk was quoted as saying.
