Satyagraha in subzero temperature
Last week Sonam Wangchuk ended his 21-day protest fast in Ladakh. During this period of ‘satyagraha’ demanding an independent statehood for Ladakh and inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, the Ramon Magdasay award winner lived outdoors in the ‘land of the high passes’, at an altitude of 11,500 feet in subzero temperatures, letting only salt and water pass through his lips.
A two-pronged agenda
Wangchuk’s agenda is two-pronged – to highlight the impending climate crisis in the region known as the ‘third pole,’ and to demand the inclusion of Ladakh within the provisions of the Sixth Schedule. The demand for statehood, however, is intricately linked to the preservation of the fragile ecosystem of Ladakh.
Timeline of events
Here is the timeline of events to better understand the issues at stake.
- August 5, 2019: Ladakh and J&K became Union Territories.
- January 23, 2024: The Ladakh protests gained momentum with the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) submitting a memorandum to the Union Home Ministry.
- February 3, 2024: Massive crowds gathered in the Leh district – causing a complete shutdown of Leh and Kargil – to demand statehood, parliamentary seats for Leh and Kargil, inclusion in the Sixth Schedule, and employment reservation for the local citizens.
- March 4, 2024: A six-member delegation from Ladakh led by Thupstan Chhewang, the chief of the Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA) and a former BJP MP met Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi. Their demands were firmly rejected.
- March 6, 2024: Sonam Wangchuk began a 21-day fast.
- March 27, 2024: Wangchuk ended his fast. Women protesters from Ladakh embarked on a 10-day fast to continue the “relay” hunger strike.
Sixth Schedule of the Constitution
What does the Sixth Schedule mean for this beautiful, cold, desert region and the way of life of its people? The Sixth Schedule provides autonomy and self-governance to the Scheduled Tribes in the Northeastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram.
Rewind to 2019. After Article 370 was repealed with the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act of 2019, Ladakh was recognized as a Union Territory, but without a legislative assembly. Declaring Ladakh as a ‘Tribal Area’ under the Sixth Schedule would give it autonomy over the use of land and its resources as well as authority to protect it.
Entrusting Ladakhis with this authority, says Wangchuk, is the only way to preserve this fragile ecosystem and the way of life for the indigenous Ladakhis. “Without these protections, Ladakhis themselves could be completely excluded from decision-making around land use in their own land,” Wangchuk said in an interview with Yale Environment 360 on day 19 of his fast.
Aggressive push for tourism
Since Ladakh became a UT, the union government has been aggressively pushing tourism and related development in the region while cultivating international tourists by promoting cultural and adventure tourism.
The Ladakh Homestay Policy 2023 for the promotion of rural/border tourism including protected areas (wildlife sanctuaries/Parks) as well as the eco-sensitive and biodiversity areas “envisages harnessing the vast untapped rural tourism potential of Ladakh, so that its benefit reaches out directly to the rural communities.” According to the policy, the Ladakh administration is planning to establish about 10,000 homestays in the next 5 years, of which the Department of Wildlife is incentivizing 5,000 homestays within the protected areas (wildlife sanctuary/parks/reserves). The permit requirement for domestic tourists within the restricted areas has been removed.
One of the fastest growing economic sectors
The government document, A Tourism Vision for Ladakh published on 10th February 2022, states that the “increased diversification in tourism in the Indian Himalayan region is one of the fastest growing economic sectors in India,” and Ladakh, with its beautiful glaciers, majestic peaks and the world’s highest motorable road, the Khardungla pass, is positioned to grow as a global adventure tourism destination.
New development projects, like the brand new terminal for the Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport in Leh, and the Zojila tunnel on NH-1 will provide all-weather connectivity between Srinagar and Leh; the construction of 45 new bridges by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is underway.
The government’s “Tourism Incentive Policy” of September 2020 states “Some of the government’s key initiatives include sanctioning 104 mountain peaks in the Leh-Ladakh region for adventure tourism, approving mega projects to promote Ladakh as a spiritual and wellness destination, directing capital and interest subsidy for investment in the tourism sector.”
Bollywood’s contribution
In the last decade, domestic tourism in Ladakh received a boost thanks to enticing visuals of Ladakh’s scenic beauty from big-budget Bollywood movies like Dil Se, LoC Kargil, Lakshya, and 3 Idiots, which was loosely based on Wangchuk’s own story.
More pragmatic reasons exist, of course. The opening of the Leh-Manali road increased the frequency of flights from Delhi, and the opening of the Atal Tunnel at Rohtang Pass in 2020 facilitated domestic travel. The Atal Tunnel has enabled seamless traffic flow into Ladakh throughout the year between April and November. These factors along with the government’s tourism promotion policies, have propelled Ladakh into a top tourist destination in India.
Over-tourism and concerns for sustainability
While the development of Ladakh is more than welcome for its people, over-tourism is a matter of grave concern. By its own admission, the government has no impact assessment data on the region, and therefore, can’t predict if the current rate of tourist influx is sustainable. By all accounts, it is not.
Water scarcity
Water resources here are scarce. Atmospherically, Ladakh is in the rain-shadows of the Himalayas. In this high-altitude desert, the only source of water is melting snow and major glaciers have retreated in the region due to climate change. To combat the problem, Wangchuck and Chewang Norphel have been the architects of innovative water solutions like the Ice Stupas (artificial glaciers).
Gigantic garbage dumps
Shraddha Kumar, an environment and energy management researcher wrote in her thesis on Ice Stupas, “The high altitude and lower oxygen levels leave the tourists to consume almost three times as much water than the natives would. This not only causes stress on the existing water resources but also a hike in plastic pollution due to disposable water bottles sold there. In regions where landfills never were, in the Nubra Valley of Ladakh, there now exists a gigantic garbage dump.” Modern recycling facilities do not exist in the Ladakh region, so solid waste management problems have reached a flashpoint.
Traditional, eco-friendly architecture is being replaced with resource-intensive and non-eco-friendly construction, increased air pollution with vehicular traffic throughout the year, and the loss of biodiversity are all serious ecological risk factors for the region.
Mining and energy interests
Wangchuk is also deeply concerned about large infrastructure development projects detrimental to the people and region of Ladakh. “Outsiders will be able to come in with huge mining, energy, industrial projects,” he said to Yale Environment 360, “and we will have no say in the matter. There will be no local input, no limits on how these big projects are decided and built.”
So his climate protest continues. On X, Wangchuk announced his next steps: a march to the Changtang borders on April 7 “in the footsteps of Mahatma Gandhi.” Ladakh, in the meanwhile, gears up for another season of heavy tourist footfall and the snarl of motorbikes racing along the world’s highest motorable road.