Crisis in Cold Desert

A hunger strike in Leh has turned into a reckoning over identity, democracy, and the right to decide a future at the country’s northern edge.

- Iffat Aurooj

The morning in Leh was colder than usual when the sound of ambulance sirens cut through the thin September air. Two elderly hunger strikers, who had been fasting for weeks, were rushed to the hospital. Their bodies had given way long before their will.

Within hours, the streets filled with young protesters carrying banners and stones. Vehicles burned, government buildings were attacked, and police fired tear gas to push the crowds back.

Four people died and more than eighty were injured before nightfall.

The protest began with an act of resistance when Sonam Wangchuk, a Ladakhi engineer and environmentalist known for his work on climate adaptation, began a hunger strike on September 10. His demands were clear: statehood for Ladakh, constitutional protection under the Sixth Schedule, separate Lok Sabha seats for Leh and Kargil, and job reservations for locals.

His fast stretched into a second week under harsh Himalayan conditions and gave the movement a moral center.

For days, the supporters kept vigil as Wangchuk’s health weakened. Then came the turning point.