Sonam Wangchuk Interview: 'Wars Won in Ladakh, Now We Don't Have Basic Rights'

Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk is marching from Ladakh to Delhi to press for statehood & rights under 6th schedule.

(Photo: The Quint)

Video Editor: Nitin Bisht

"You make promises, but you don’t even trust us. You didn’t fight the wars, the people sitting in Delhi did not help win wars, it was the locals of Ladakh who helped win wars of 1965, 1971, and 1999. Today, you tell us that we cannot have decision-making powers because we are a border state?" said climate activist Sonam Wangchuk.

Also popularly known as the man who inspired the movie '3 Idiots', Wangchuk has set out from Ladakh to Delhi on foot with scores of his supporters to press for a few key demands, or rather "reminders" which he feels are necessary to uphold the sanctity of Ladakh.

"Promises of giving the locals of Ladakh rights under the 6th schedule were made in manifestos in 2019 Parliament elections and in election speeches," Wangchuk said, citing the separation of Ladakh from Jammu and Kashmir in 2019, and how it has made the hills an "open playing field" for mining and industrialisation. But that is not his only demand.

In an interview to The Quint, Wangchuk talks about the motive behind his march, his key demandas, and what he expects from the Centre after he makes it to the national capital.

How's the trip going so far?

The journey is going very well, even better than I had expected because I was thinking it would be difficult, some people may fall sick, some may get injured, but nothing like that happened.

What are you specifically seeking with the 6th schedule? What are your demands from the government? You have been on a hunger strike in teh past too.

Rather than demands, these are reminders to fulfill the promises that were made, which was giving rights under the 6th Schedule. When Ladakh was separated from in Jammu and Kashmir and became a separate union territory in 2019, we had some concerns about how the safeguards of land and culture. I am an environmentalist so I was concerned about safeguarding the fragile environment of Ladakh. Ladakh may become an open playing field for mining, industries, etc. That may not necessarily be a bad development, but who will set the limits for it if it affects the environment? The 6th Schedule is a provision in which local, indigenious people are given the powers to manage their own areas. Promises of 6th schedule made in manifestos in 2019 Parliamentary elections and 2020 elections in Ladakh.These promises are also in minutes of the meetings of SC/ST commission, home ministry, and also the tribal ministry. Central ministers said in rallies that we will protect you under the 6th schedule because now you have become a union territory, for which people were very grateful to the government. Then they took a U-turn on the promises they made about 6th schedule.Now, even reminding about the 6th schedule is percieved as a crime. Fulfilling promises must be one's duty. Why should we have to struggle for it?

It is not an easy task, it is a difficult journey and when I see many elderly and children too. What motivated to carry out the foot march?

The motive is to make the other side realise their mistake and correct them. Gandhi ji’s way is not to throw stones at them or insult . Instead, you do it peacefully, bear the sufferings and pain yourself—sometimes staying hungry, enduring the heat or cold. If we are aggressive, it will create an 'us vs them' situation, a kind of enmity.

How can the environment be safeguarded under the 6th schedule?

What happens is that big companies come here, make their profits, and leave. When we finally face the impact of their actions in the form of disasters like landslides and floods, the government has to take care of the damages using our tax money. What kind of a model is this? All the expenses come out of our taxes, and the local people suffer for generations. So, this model is not right. In such a case, how can we protect the area? Now, we must tell the government to create policies that recognise the fact that Himalayas cannot sustain the development like it happens in Lucknow or Punjab. It's way more sensitive here. The 6th Schecula already exists. The natives should have the right to manage their own environment, land, and forests. Government officials appointed for three years cannot understand the local needs. They come for three years, and we face the consequences for three generations or more. The 6th Schedule is not anti-development, it is not against progress. It simply says that local people should be consulted before any decision is made.

What exactly are the demands?

So, there are four key points for Ladakh, spearheaded by the Leh Apex Body, which is leading this movement. I support them as an environmentalist. Then there is the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), and these two groups have a four-point agenda. The first is safeguarding the region under the 6th Schedule. The second is restoring democracy in Ladakh. Democracy is being restored in Jammu & Kashmir, and it exists everywhere else in the country, so why are the people of Ladakh deprived of democracy? The third point is employment for the youth, especially at higher levels. There's no Public Service Commission here, so all the gazetted posts are vacant, making administration difficult. Consequentially, there has been no recruitment for the youth in the past 5-6 years. Keeping the youth unemployed in such a sensitive border area and also denying them democracy creates an undesirable situation for national security. The fourth point is to have two Members of Parliament (MPs), one for Kargil and one for Leh, but that is subject to delimitation.

What are your expectations from the government?

We always feel that any sensible government will listen to the voices of the people, and it should listen not just for our sake but for theirs as well. A good government is a sensitive one, which opens its ears and eyes to the pain and suffering of the people and addresses it quickly. So, we remain hopeful. But on the other hand, we learn from the Bhagavad Gita to keep doing our duty without worrying about the result. We will succeed sometime in the future for sure.

Those who oppose your demands say that Ladakh a sensitive zone with military base, so giving powers under the 6th Schedule may dilute Centre's powers.

My thought process is the opposite of this. Not getting those powers will weaken the region. You make promises, but you don’t even trust us. You didn’t fight the wars of 1965, 1971, or 1991 sitting in Delhi. It was Ladakh locals who helped win those wars, and today you’re telling us that we are on the border but won’t be given decision-making powers. There is a scope to doubt the people of Delhi but not the people of Ladakh, there is no doubt whether Ladakh will act in the nation's interest or not. People here have given their lives to protect the country. If Sikkim and Arunachal can have statehood, why not Ladakh?

You hail from here. Over the years, what major changes in Ladakh have you seen which may not be favourable?

Politically speaking, separating Ladakh from Jammu and Kashmir was a good decision because the culture, the issues here are completely different, and everyone worked hard for this. But to clip their wings, to silence their voices, was not a good decision. If you made it a separate Union Territory, why not make it a UT with a legislature? Why is it not a valid demand? As for the environmental issues, if voices of locals are not given importance, any Lieutenant Governor can come and do whatever they want. It won’t affect them, they will leave after three years, maybe with a Padma Shri or Padma Vibhushan, but the people here will have to suffer. This kind of development is not good.

Has Rise in Tourism impacted ladakh environmentally?

No, the impact of tourism on Ladakh is not inherently bad, but there has been a lack of proper management. Earlier, there were 40,000-50,000 tourists per year, and now it has risen to 4-5 lakh tourists per year. According to my calculations, Ladakh can handle even 8-10 lakh tourists, provided it is managed well. So, I won’t blame tourism, I will blame the management. When all the 4-5 lakhs tourists get concentrated just to Leh city for just five months, it causes a lot of damage. But if you expand it across the entire 45,000 sq km region over 12 months, it can be a blessing for all the remote villages that have such wonderful stories to tell.

What's your message for the people of the country?

I want to say three things. First, don't see Ladakh’s struggle as just Ladakh’s struggle, it is the country's struggle. If Ladakh is saying promises were made, then they must be fulfilled, value the truth. The second point is that democracy is everyone’s right, and Ladakh has that right too. People across the country can unite and ask: what is Ladakh asking for and why? The third point is about the environment. You yourself have a huge responsibility. When you're in Bangalore, Kolkata, or Delhi, you are sources of carbon emissions with 5-6 cars and bungalows, use electricity excessively. For you to splurge resources unnecessarily, dams get constructed in Ladakh's hills. They cause landslides, and peopel are displaced. All this for what? In places like Himachal, lives are being ruined just to keep your television on, to run your gaming consoles, and to recharge your electric cars. So, you have to reduce your greed and luxury so that the future of others and your own can survive. Please live simply in the big cities so that continue to simply live in the mountains.