SRINAGAR: Ladakh engineer, innovator and environmentalist Sonam Wangchuk, has announced that he will stage a 10-day climate fast, either by the end of this month or early June, to press the central government to grant 6th Schedule status to Ladakh Union Territory, which was carved out from erstwhile J&K state after the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A by centre on August 5, 2019.
Wangchuk said the promise to grant the 6th Schedule to Ladakh was made by the BJP in the last parliamentary election. “It was in the first point of BJP’s manifesto for Ladakh and people voted for the party as they had assured us of granting 6th Schedule status to Ladakh,” he said.
Wangchuk, who had staged a five-day climate fast in January at the Himalayan Institute of Alternatives Ladakh (HIAL) campus, said after being voted to power, it was the responsibility of the BJP government to fulfil its promise made with the people of Ladakh.
“If you keep something at No 1 agenda in the manifesto and after winning the polls ignore it totally, then people will lose trust in democracy,” he said. Leh Apex Body and Kargil Democratic Alliance, an amalgam of trade unions, and social, political and religious, students groups from Leh and Kargil districts of Ladakh, have joined hands to jointly spearhead the campaign for the grant of 6th Schedule status, statehood with the legislature, creation of two Lok Sabha seats and reservation of jobs to locals in Ladakh UT.
Disappointed over the centre not adhering to its pre-poll promise, Wanghcuk said now the situation has reached the point where people are being formally and informally harassed for raising voices in favour of 6th Schedule. “We are not demanding anything outside the constitution of India. We are demanding the constitutional safeguards that are there in the constitution for the tribal population of the country”.
Wanghuck announced that he would be going on a 10-day climate fast to press the central government to grant the 6th Schedule to Ladakh. “I was planning to stage the fast from April 26. But since the Y-20 pre-summit was held in Ladakh on April 26, we postponed it for the better interests of the country. I will now be beholding the climate fast either in May end or early June,” he said.
Granting of 6th Schedule, he said, will protect the environment, culture and land of Ladakh. “If the 6th schedule is not granted to Ladakh, then not only people of Ladakh will lose trust in democracy and government but the whole country will lose trust as questions will be raised on ethics, democracy and intentions of the ruling party. It will lay the wrong foundation”.
On February 16, the Ladakh leaders staged a protest at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi in support of their demand for 6th Schedule and statehood for Ladakh UT. The KDA and LAB both have threatened the Centre that they will intensify their agitation and protest for 6th Schedule status and statehood to Ladakh UT.
Equals autonomy
The Sixth Schedule under Article 244 provides for the formation of autonomous administrative divisions that have some legislative, judicial, and administrative autonomy within a state. Civil society groups in Ladakh have been demanding protection of land, resources and employment for years after the special status of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir was revoked by Parliament under Article 370 of the Constitution in 2019. The fear of big businesses and conglomerates taking away land and jobs from the locals has contributed to this demand.