An Indian climate activist who ended a 16-day-long hunger strike this week says his fight to save the ecology of his hometown – an icy cold desert in the northernmost part of India – is far from over.
Sonam Wangchuk, 58, became a familiar name in India when Bollywood star Aamir Khan played a character inspired by him in the 2009 blockbuster 3 Idiots.
Mr Wangchuk has also had a long career as an engineer and innovator. But in recent months, he has made headlines for holding protests seeking more autonomy for people in his home region of Ladakh, a mountainous cold desert bordering Pakistan and China.
Ladakh was part of Indian-administered Kashmir until 2019, when Prime Minister Narenda Modi’s government removed the state’s special status and split it into two federally governed territories – Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
Earlier this month, assembly elections were held in Jammu and Kashmir for the first time since the abrogation. But Ladakh continues to be a federal territory without legislative powers.
People in Ladakh say this is unfair, and that they need their own representatives. They are also worried about the pace of infrastructural activities in the region, which they say is harming its fragile environment.
- The thousands of Indians protesting in freezing cold
Before beginning his hunger strike, Mr Wangchuk and his supporters walked for hundreds of kilometres from Ladakh to reach capital Delhi. They argued that more autonomy to Ladakh – under a constitutional provision called the Sixth Schedule -would help prevent exploitation of natural resources.
Their march on foot came after months-long talks between locals in Ladakh and federal government officials failed.
At Delhi’s borders, the protesters were detained for hours after which Mr Wangchuk began his hunger strike. He ended it on Monday after the government promised that talks would resume soon.
With his protests and interviews, Mr Wangchuk has ensured that the demands of the people of Ladakh have remained part of mainstream media discourse in India for weeks now.
