LADAKH RESIDENTS ON HUNGER STRIKE

People of Ladakh went on Hunger Strike.

On March 6, 2024, the famous Environmentalist, Sonam Wangchuk, upon whom the renowned film '3 Idiots' was made, went on a 'fast unto death' hunger strike. He called it a 'Climate Fast'.

Thousands of residents of Ladakh have been long demanding safeguards under the Schedule Six of the Constitution of India so that they can make decisions relating to the use and management of water and land that they at present, can't decide on. The 21day hunger strike by Sonam Wangchuk was in support of the strike of Ladakhis.

In 2019, Jammu & Kashmir was split into two Union territories: Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir. As per the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act of 2019 Ladakh became a Union Territory, without a Legislature. Instead, the UT is administered by a Lieutenant Governor. Surprisingly, a nonresident of Ladakh is appointed as the Lieutenant Governor to make decisions for Ladakh. Similarly, there are many bureaucrats in important positions who are influencing the region's future despite not being residents of Ladakh, as said by Sajjad Kargili, a core committee member of KDA. Mr. Sajjad Kargili further expressed that the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils at present in Leh and Kargil became powerless after the declaration of Ladakh as a Union Territory.