As his hunger strike for Ladakh’s statehood and Sixth Schedule safeguards entered its fifth day, climate activist Sonam Wangchuk on Monday accused the Centre of “witch-hunting” and appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to direct Union Home Minister Amit Shah to honour the promises made to the region.
Taking to social media platform X, Wangchuk wrote, “LADAKH KI MANN KI BAAT. Dear PM Modi ji please advise @amitShah ji to stop witch-hunting & honour the promises made to Ladakh & keep the maryada of Bhagwan Sri Ram... Raghukul reeti sada chali aayi pran jaaye par vachan na jaaye!” He ended the note with hashtags including #SaveLadakh, #SaveHimalayas and #SaveBharat.
Sonam Wangchuk, a member of the Leh Apex Body (LAB), began a 35-day-long hunger strike on 10 September, demanding statehood and constitutional safeguards for the Union Territory under the Sixth Schedule. Supporters have joined him in Leh, where the protest has gathered momentum.
Explaining the plan of action, prior to the commencement of the protest, he said, “In the first phase, we will sit on 35 days or five weeks of hunger strike. If we survive it, we will follow it with a six-week hunger strike. However, if the Centre resumes result-oriented talks on Ladakh’s demands, the strike will be called off."
The LAB has launched an outreach campaign, organising a Sarva Dharma Prarthana Sabha in Leh and dispatching four-member teams across the region to raise awareness about their demands. Apart from statehood and the Sixth Schedule, the body has also sought the establishment of a Ladakh Public Service Commission and an additional Lok Sabha seat for the region.
The timing of the agitation coincides with preparations for fresh elections to the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC-Leh) next month. The BJP had won 15 of 26 seats in the 2020 polls. Reminding the ruling party of its electoral commitments, Wangchuk stated, “Sixth Schedule was the number one promise made in the manifesto of the BJP in 2020. It’s time for voters to cash the cheque and ensure the demand is met before the fresh elections.”
Talks between the Centre and Ladakh representatives were last held in May but ended without progress. Since then, the LAB and the Kargil Democratic Alliance have accused the government of dragging its feet. “There was dilly-dallying on statehood and the Sixth Schedule. There is an attempt to bury the real issues,” Wangchuk said.
The activist also accused the government of attempting to intimidate him. “They sent me a CBI notice, an Income Tax summon, and withdrew the land meant for a varsity. These are all pressure tactics,” he alleged.
Since Ladakh was carved out as a Union Territory in 2019 from the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, demands for statehood and constitutional safeguards have grown stronger. This is the fourth time Sonam Wangchuk has resorted to a hunger strike to highlight the issue.
In January 2023, he staged a five-day climate fast at Khardung La, braving –40°C to draw attention to Ladakh’s ecological fragility. He returned in March 2024 with a 21-day hunger strike, warning he would fast unto death in sub-zero conditions if talks failed. On that occasion, he accused the Centre of bowing to industrial lobbies and ignoring Ladakh’s environmental and cultural concerns.
In October 2024, he also staged an indefinite fast at Ladakh Bhawan in New Delhi, joined by around two dozen supporters. The protest ended after the Ministry of Home Affairs assured that talks with Ladakh’s civil society groups would resume in December, though activists later accused the government of failing to follow through.
