When on January 21, famous Ladakhi innovator Sonam Wangchuk announced he will go for five days climate fast at 18000 ft Khardungla pass where temperature dipped to minus 40 on Republic Day, he said he doesn't know whether he will come out of it alive. While Wangchuk was not allowed to move towards Khardungla, he sat on a five day fast at the Himalayan Institute of Alternative Ladakh. He not only lived his climate fast but has apparently given new directions to Ladakh’s political demands with songs, political speeches and music reverberating in his support across Ladakh region.
Pouring in from different areas of Ladakh, the Union Territory on Tuesday saw a huge gathering at the Pologround Leh with people shouting, “we want sixth schedule” and singing songs in praise of the climate fast of Wangchuk.
Former MP Thupstan Chhewang, who is Chairman of the Apex Body of Leh, an amalgam of different political and religious organisations, was present at the gathering to show solidarity with Wangchuk.
Wangchuk described it as a grand reception.
“I am told this was the largest gathering ever in Leh despite the cold,” Wangchuk said.
Kargil Democratic Alliance, a grouping of different political and religious organisations of Kargil issued a statement saying, Wangchuk observed the fast to protect the environment of Ladakh and Sixth Schedule, one of four demands of Apex Body of Leh and Kargil Democratic Alliance. Both the political groups have been asking for constitutional safeguard under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India to protect the interest of the tribal people of Ladakh, formation of Public Service Commission and Reservation of jobs for youth of Ladakh and creation of two separate parliamentary constituencies for Leh and Kargil.
At the end of the fast Wangchuk said his fast was supposed to be at Khardungla Pass but the local administration didn’t allow it. He said democracy has been finished in Ladakh as “Ladakhi people have no voice” in the administration run by Lt Governor. “We had asked UT with the legislature. We didn’t ask UT without a legislature. Some people are now asking for statehood. Why not? Why should there be permanent Governor’s rule in Ladakh,” he said.
Ladakh rapper Miss Ladoll composed a song seeking a sixth schedule for Ladakh. “I stand with Sonam Wangchuk, I stand for Sixth Schedule of Ladakh” the rapper says in her composition, which has become viral in the Ladakh region.
In Kargil two students expressed solidarity with Wangchuk singing Habib Jalib poem "Main Nahi Manta Main Nahi Janta" in support of Wanchuk and posting it on YouTube.
Social activist and former student leader Jigmat Paljor says whenever a crisis hit Ladakh, its leaders and people raised their concerns in unison. He said it was a historic day as thousands of people filled Pologround Leh in support of the climate fast of Wangchuk.
On January 23 Wangchuk while announcing climate fast had said in his video message that Ladakh's fragile environment and its people deserve the Sixth Schedule of Indian Constitution. However, after the end of the fast he also called for statehood for Ladakh.
Wangchuk, who graduated from the National Institute of Technology of Srinagar and has studied Earthen Architecture at Craterre School of Architecture in Grenoble, France, for two years, is well known in Ladakh and beyond. However, with the five day fast, he has emerged as a leading voice of the region asking for protection of jobs and land of Ladakh through the Sixth Schedule of Indian Constitution. Under Article 244 of the Indian Constitution Sixth Schedule gives autonomy on legislative, judicial, and administrative matters.
After completing his graduation from NIT Srinagar, Wangchuk in 1988 along with a group of young Ladakhis founded the Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL) with an aim to reform the educational system of Ladakh. Wangchuk was the face of this reformist educational movement. Wangchuk, a young engineer then, found that Ladakhi school children didn’t relate to anything taught in the textbooks and they would fail in large numbers in Jammu and Kashmir State Board exams. Above all, they would be blamed for their poor performance and passed off as duffers.
As Wangchuk later invented the Ice Stupa technique which creates artificial glaciers, used for storing winter water in the form of conically shaped ice heap, the fame of the SECMOL grew further. The first ice stupa created in October 2013 was 20 feet tall and lasted until mid-May, providing almost 40,000 gallons of water. In 2015, Wangchuk started working on Himalayan Institute of Alternative Ladakh with focus areas on the entire Himalayas.
