Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk ended her 21-day hunger strike on Tuesday. Wangchuk started a “Climate Fast for 21 days (extendable until death)” on March 6. While he ended his hunger strike on Tuesday, he said it was not the end of the protest.
During the 21 days of the climate fast, Wangchuk said: “350 people slept in -10C. 5,000 people in a day here [Ladakh]. But still no word from the government.”
He also reminded PM Modi and Amit Shah of the promises they made to the people of Ladakh in the last two elections.
END OF DAY 20 OF #CLIMATEFAST
Still feeling bit down & drained…
Today some 2500 people joined me for day long fast and some 300 are sleeping outdoors …
Here I Remind Amit Shah ji & Modi ji of the values they are supposed to represent…#SaveLadakh #SaveHimalayas… pic.twitter.com/OzTCywAUYe— Sonam Wangchuk (@Wangchuk66) March 25, 2024
Who is Sonam Wangchuk?
Wangchuk is a climate activist, mechanical engineer and educator from Ladakh. He is also the director of the Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, Ladakh (HIAL). In 2018, he received the Magsaysay Award.
It was Wangchuk’s character that inspired Aamir Khan’s character Hunsuk Wangdo in the 2009 film 3 Idiots.
The Ladakhi engineer is known for starting an innovative school called the Student Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL), whose campus uses solar energy for cooking, lighting and heating. It does not use fossil fuels.
Why Sonam Wangchuk is protesting
At the start of the 21-day hunger strike, Wangchuk drew attention to climate-related issues. “Today our planet is going through enormous challenges, environmental challenges, global warming, climate change, and nowhere is this challenge seen more than in the Himalayas than on the Tibetan Plateau,” he said on March 6.
END OF DAY 16 OF #CLIMATEFAST
I continue to feel drained & lower & lower in energy…
Hence a final appeal to the Prime Minister of India.
Sharing the unfair treatment meted out to people of Ladakh on Safeguards under 6th Schedule of constitution.
4 years of dilly dallying and a… pic.twitter.com/r1tKWjrFwJ— Sonam Wangchuk (@Wangchuk66) March 21, 2024
Meanwhile, he also raised the demand for the statehood of Ladakh and its inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. In an appeal to the Prime Minister, he said, “Sharing the unfair treatment meted out to people of Ladakh on Safeguards under 6th Schedule of constitution…4 years of dilly dallying and a No in the end… after making clear promises in 2 elections in written manifestos.”
The Sixth Schedule contains provisions for the administration of the Tribal Areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram through Autonomous Regional Councils.
In August 2019, Ladakh was separated from Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370, which stripped the region of statehood and semi-autonomy.
