Four years have elapsed, yet not even four demands fulfilled; an in-depth analysis.
Educationist and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and the Leh Apex Body (LAB) decided to call off the border march on Sunday as the Ladakh Lieutenant Governor's administration stepped up measures to block the proposed event from going forward.
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On March 26, 2024, he completed his 21-day hunger strike, sleeping in the open despite temperatures being at a biting -10 Celsius.
The ongoing peaceful protest will, however, continue.
As they explained, the purpose of the 'Pashmina March' was to highlight the plight of the Changpa nomadic tribes, who are losing thousands of square kilometres of their land "due to Chinese incursions in the north and our own corporations in the south."
Within 24 hours, the L-G administration has imposed Section 144 of the CrPC in Leh to disallow any assembly without permission, curtailed Internet speed, and rounded up supporters of Mr. Wangchuk.
He is credited with helping drive the sharp increase of
Class 10 graduates from 5% to 75% in the region and founding the Himalayan Institute of Alternative Ladakh.
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Why are people in Ladakh protesting?
Ladakh is becoming the centre of the unfolding ecological disaster, where rising temperatures, rapid melting of glaciers, dying spring waters, increasing rainfall, decreasing snowfall, and water scarcity have become everyday experiences. Unregulated tourism in this sensitive region is another grave threat. After COVID-19 pandemic restrictions eased in 2020–21, four lakh tourists visited Ladakh during the season. Although Ladakh's population itself is about three lakes, the ecology of the region does not have the capacity to manage this unregulated tourism. There has been loss of job opportunities for youths since 2019, resulting in Ladakh witnessing one of the highest rises in unemployment in India between 2021–22 and 2022–23. Unemployment in Ladakh grew by 16 percent between those years, with 26.5 percent of graduates unemployed.
Following the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, Ladakhi people realised that the creation of a UT left them without a legislature, depriving them of autonomy in governance. For many Ladakhis, the main concern isn't the nature of the projects being introduced by the Centre but the fact that they have been kept out of the decision-making process. Under the current system, there is only one member of Parliament from Ladakh to represent local interests, in contrast to the additional four members of the Legislative Assembly. Ladakh once had in the (now dissolved) Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly. A deeper panic has set in at the blistering pace of 'development' projects that have been announced in the last two years. The Centre has cleared seven hydroelectric projects in the Indus basin and its tributaries while also commissioning the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to set up a geothermal energy power plant at Puga Valley and a hydrogen unit by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC). This raised concerns among locals about the large-scale clearance of forest land. In August 2010, several parts of Ladakh, especially Leh, were hit by flash floods. Nearly 255 people died in the deluge. In August 2014, a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) caused damage when the glacial lake was breached, resulting in damaged houses and bridges in Gya village. More recently, in August 2021, a GLOF near Rumbak village also damaged roads and bridges. A study published in 2020 estimated that Ladakh has 192 glacial lakes. Several research articles also state that due to the increasing temperature caused by global warming, the number and size of glacial lakes in the Himalaya are increasing, and glaciers are shrinking.
Abrogation of Article 370
On August 5, 2019, when the Union Government stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and split it into two Union territories—Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh—parts of Ladakh celebrated the move, with people in the Buddhist-majority Leh district dancing on the streets. On the other hand, the people in Kargil hit the streets to protest against the scrapping of Articles 370 and 35A, spurring the government to impose restrictions. The Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils in both Leh and Kargil districts—formed to administer the region—have no powers to legislate. Earlier, in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, the councils would make by-laws, which, after being passed by the state assembly, would become laws.
Demands of Ladakh
While they demand full statehood for Ladakh, they also demand constitutional safeguards under the Sixth Schedule and an increase in the number of Ladakh's Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seats to "strengthen the representation and participation" in India's democratic process. Lastly, they also demand early recruitment to end the employment crisis that has plagued the region for a while now.
What is the sixth schedule, and why is Ladakh demanding it?
Following the repeal of Article 370 in August 2019 and the subsequent enactment of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, Ladakh has been recognised as a separate Union Territory "without legislature." Ever since the separation, organisations like the Apex Body of Leh (ABL) and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) have demanded that Ladakh be included under the Sixth Schedule. The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution provides for the self-autonomous administration of tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram in order to safeguard their rights. The Constitution provides this special provision under articles 244(2) and 275(1). Inclusion under this would allow Ladakh to create autonomous districts and regional councils—elected bodies with the power to administer tribal areas. This would include the power to make laws on subjects such as forest management, agriculture, the administration of villages and towns, inheritance, marriage, divorce, and social customs. The tribal population in Ladakh is 97 percent. The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) held parleys and discussed the issue of bringing Ladakh under the ambit of the sixth schedule. The commission submitted its recommendations to the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, and the Tribal Affairs Minister, Arjun Munda. The recommendation, however, has not been implemented so far. There have been several rounds of talks held between Ladakh and the Central Government, yet no conclusion has been reached. Recently, after meeting on March 4, while Home Minister Amit Shah assured the delegation that the government would look into fulfilling Ladakh's demands, he reportedly 'categorically' said that the Centre cannot bestow statehood on the UT nor guarantee its inclusion under the Sixth Schedule. Instead, the government is considering giving Ladakh special provisions under Article 371 of the Constitution. The discussion, however, left two bodies dissatisfied.
(The author is pursuing graduation in Political Science at B. Borooah College, Guwahati University. The views and opinions expressed are the author’s own.)
