Will begin a movement of non-cooperation if the government does not meet demands: Wangchuk

Sonam Wangchuk, a climate activist and inventor, said a day after his 21-day fast ended that if the government did not meet the requests of the people, Ladakhi officials would not be allowed to “move even a file” and would instead launch a non-cooperation campaign.

He was speaking to a group of Leh citizens who had come to hear their leaders’ demands for the area to become a state and be placed on the Sixth Schedule. Individuals from all throughout the nation responded to Wangchuk’s 21-day fast in force, with several cities seeing individuals perform one-day fasts in support of him.

Wangchuk declared: “We shall follow Mahatma Gandhi’s lead and launch a non-cooperation campaign in addition to prison bharo demonstrations because the administration is not paying attention to our sincere demands.”

The well-known inventor also instructed the UT herders to prepare for a foot march to the Changthang region’s Line of Actual Control (LAC), which is well-known for its Pashmina goats raised by nomads.

In Changthang, our herders are seeing a scenario where they are compelled to sell their Pashmina goats because they are unable to return to their pastures. On the one hand, they are losing their land because it is being seized for a large solar plant project. However, Wangchuk said that the Chinese Army has been encroaching on their territory.

We shall conduct a Changthang March, just as Gandhi Ji performed the Dandi March. To let our compatriots know what is going on in the field, we will broadcast live over the Internet. If there is nothing to conceal, the government should have no trouble allowing people to return to their own property. We are going to accompany herders, who will demonstrate any infringement carried out by the Chinese Army. It will be revealed if the government thwarts our plans,” he said.

Wangchuk emphasised the significance of the Sixth Schedule for Ladakh, stating that the area and its indigenous people needed to be taken care of.

“To protect the native population, we had hoped that Ladakh would adopt the Sixth Schedule following its designation as a UT in 2019.” We had also been informed of this by the administration. But later on, it stopped making this provision, he said. — OC