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Ladakh Agitation Spreading As KDA Announces Joining Hunger Strike On March 24

Kargil leaders and KDA members to join hunger strike from March 24 for four days in Leh

LadakhNews
5 min read
Thousands of people gathered in Kargil town of Ladakh on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, to extend support to Sonam Wangchuk who has been on a fast to demand constitutional safeguards for the region. Photo/Sajjad Kargili
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NEW DELHI: With the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) announcing to join the hunger strike by environmental activist and Ramon Magsaysay award winner Sonam Wangchuk on March 24, the ongoing agitation in Ladakh against the BJP-led central government is growing bigger with the passage of every day.

Sonam Wangchuk’s hunger strike entered the 16th day on Thursday, a day after KDA leaders from Kargil announced their decision to join the hunger strike. Kargil district observed half-day strike on Wednesday in response to the call given by KDA in support Sonam Wangchuk, who has been braving extreme sub-zero temperature under open skies alongwith his supporters. Hundreds of supporters have been joining him on day-long hunger strike on daily basis.

At a press briefing held on Wednesday, Sajjad Kargili, one of the key members of the KDA said that the group will join Sonam Wangchuk from March 24 to 27 as the dialogue process broke down in the third round earlier this month. Sajjad Kargili is also a member High Powered Committee (HPC) constituted by the central government for looking into the demands of the Ladakhis including inclusion in Sixth Schedule, statehood to Ladakh and separate Public Service Commission for the region to provide job opportunities to the locals among a dozen demands.

https://twitter.com/SajjadKargili_/status/1770885826983112748/photo/1

He said that the talks with the Union government have failed to address their demands of Sixth Schedule rights for Ladakh and restoration of its statehood. He said that the central government did not adhere to the promises made to the people of Ladakh on their demands and nothing concrete has happened in the previous meetings between the two sides.

“The issue of statehood and Sixth Schedule are close to the hearts of Ladakhis. It is not just our demand. It is a popular sentiment and aspiration of people of Ladakh and we will take this struggle to its logical conclusion,” Sajjad, who has been in the fore front in the ongoing strike, said.

A massive protest was held in Kargil on Wednesday and thousands of people from Ladakh joined the demonstration.

Shouting slogans, the thousands of protesters assembled in the main market of Kargil which resonated with demands of restoration of democracy and statehood and inclusion of Ladakh in the Sixth Schedule among a dozen other demands.

Asghar Ali Karbalai, a Co-Convenor of KDA and former lawmaker of erstwhile state of J&K, led the crowd as it rallied from Fatima Chowk to Hussaini Park in Kargil. Karbalai urged the protesters to brace for a long-haul struggle after the breakdown of talks with the central government.

“The Central government is underestimating our determination. They believe that the voices in Ladakh can be quelled with force. But we must stand resolute and prepared to face any situation in the fight for Ladakh and our rights,” he told the crowd.

Tensions have been simmering in the frontier region bordering China in the east and Pakistan on the west after the year-long talks broke down in third round earlier this month. A union home ministry committee refused to concede to the demands of constitutional safeguards for Ladakh after it was downgraded into a Union Territory in 2019, when special status of Jammu and Kashmir state under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution was de-operationalised.

Karbalai also announced that along with Sajjad Kargili and Qamar Ali Akhoon, a former J&K minister from National Conference party and another Co-Convenor of KDA, he would join Wangchuk’s fast.

Sonam Wangchuk, who has been drinking only water and salt since he began the fast on March 6, broadcasts regular video messages on social media platforms to draw the attention of people to the fragile environment of Ladakh and how allowing industrial units in the region could create an environmental catastrophe.

Through his video messages, Sonam Wangchuk has also been reminding the BJP leadership of the promises that it had made to the people of Ladakh in its poll manifestos ahead of the 2019 parliamentary election and 2020 Hill Council elections.

BEGINNING OF DAY 16 OF #CLIMATEFAST 120 people sleeping outdoors under clear skies. Temperature: – 8 °C 16 days of just water n salts is finally taking a toll. Feeling quite week. But I can still drag for another 25 days n perhaps will. I’m sure our path of truth will win eventually. In Anna Hazare’s case Parliament unanimously passed the Lokpal Bill by the 13th day of his fast. Mahatma Gandhi had to sit for 21 days. Let’s see how long ours takes…! We shall overcome some… day.

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 No in the end… after making clear promises in 2 elections in written manifestos.

“This Government likes to call India the ‘Mother of Democracy’. But if India denies democratic rights to people of Ladakh & continues to keep it under bureaucrats controlled from New Delhi then it could only be called a Stepmother of Democracy as far as Ladakh is concerned,” Wangchuk said in a recent post on X.

Sonam Wangchuk, who has been leading the hunger strike in Leh under the banner of the ‘People’s Movement for Sixth Schedule for Ladakh’, is also planning a ‘border march’ of 10,000 Ladakhi shepherds and farmers to “show the ground reality” at a time when “nomads are losing prime pasture land to huge Indian industrial plants to the south and Chinese encroachment to the north.”

Thousands of people gathered in Kargil town of Ladakh on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, to extend support to Sonam Wangchuk who has been on a fast to demand constitutional safeguards for the region. Photo/Sajjad Kargili

Karbalai said that the grouping will hold a meeting with Leh Apex Body (LAB), which is spearheading the agitation for constitutional safeguards in Leh region, to chalk out future course of action after the talks with the central government ended on a deadlock earlier this month.

“Some vested interests want to pitch the people of Ladakh against each other but our agitation is not restricted to one community or one district. Everyone in Ladakh is part of the agitation and united in support of our demands,” Karbalai said.

Besides the grant of statehood and inclusion of Ladakh in Sixth Schedule, the LAB-KDA combine, which has been leading the talks with the MHA-panel headed by junior home minister, Nityanand Rai, was also seeking job reservation policy in the administration for locals of Ladakh and a parliamentary seat each for the Leh and Kargil districts.

Under Article 244, the Sixth Schedule provides constitutional safeguards to tribal populations and also allows them to set up autonomous development councils to frame laws on land, public health, and agriculture.

The Ladakhis have also been demanding more powers to both the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils of Leh and Kargil that include regulating development and mining in the ecologically fragile region.

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