Hundreds of people had joined education reformist Sonam Wangchuk on the final day of his five-day hunger strike held in Ladakh in Jan this year. Sonam Wangchuk is the same Engineer whose life inspired a character; Phunsukh Wangdu in Bollywood block bluster "3 Idiots".
He had alleged that he was asked to sign a bond and has been placed under house arrest and even gone to the extent of calling the current Govt as DICTATOR.
So, in view of the above, its important to understand, what are his demands and why has Govt shied away from responding to his demands.
One. He says “ The government needs to have a futuristic plan for safeguarding the environment of the Himalayas”. He further adds “ Safeguarding the Himalayas, including its glaciers, should be more important than making some "corporators happy" as it is having a direct bearing on the people”.
Two. He wants an extension of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution to Ladakh because now that protection of article 370 is gone , it is necessary to protect the people and their land under the provision of article 244 from the corporate hawks.
Prima facie, it appears that post article 370, the bonhomie with the ruling Govt at the centre is fast disappearing and locals are now realising that they are now being thrown open to the corporate wolves who want nothing but only the Land where they can set up hotels, resorts, bring in more flights & more tourists, more shopping complexes and so on in the guise of Development.
This is exactly what has happened in eco sensitive Uttarakhand where in the name of development its environment is brought to a point of no return.
So, there is some truth in what Mr Sonam Wangchuk said ; The Union Territory's administration wants to silence him as he protests against destruction of the region's ecology and unsustainable development.
It would also be grossly wrong to look at his demands from the prism of religion and create a rift between Muslims of Kargil and Buddhists because the natural calamity does not discriminate.
We have seen this happening with all environmentalists and still not woken up, despite so many calamities that have taken place in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh due to unsustainable development.
Very few might be knowing about Mr Sonam’s protest nor would they be any interested about the Ladakhis till the Land of Ladakh is with India. That’s the major problem, we always tend to think of Land and not the people who live there, may be the attitude is ; ZAMIN AAGAYI LOGON KA KYA HAI, THOK PEET KEY AA JEYENGEY.
A State that crushes the voice of its people and displays scant respect for their concerns does not prosper, yes China, the Dragon empire is surely an example that may inspire some but India has never been like the Dragon empire and so it should avoid imitating China while dealing with people.
It is therefore high time that Govt rethinks about this mad development in eco sensitive regions of India and learn a few lessons from its neighbour Bhutan as to how Tourism can be regulated.