New Delhi: For Sonam Wangchuk, engineer-innovator of national fame, the ongoing protests to safeguard Ladakh’s identity under the Sixth Schedule gain urgent, new meaning under the looming threat of climate change.
Ladakh is among the most vulnerable parts of the country to the impacts of climate change, as glaciers are retreating and whole villages are forced to relocate in search of water.
“If we no longer have a way to safeguard our land, the whole place will be overrun by huge populations and industries will come in. Glaciers will melt at a faster rate. Ladakh is a very fragile ecosystem, it cannot tolerate this,” Wangchuk told ThePrint over the phone.
The Ladakh-based innovator is on a fast for the last five days in freezing sub-zero temperatures to highlight the region’s vulnerability to climate change, and its link to rights accorded in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
“I’ve been concerned about Ladakh’s environmental health for three decades now, and not just from the impact of industries from outside, but also from people who live within Ladakh,” Wangchuk said, sounding tired after not having had a morsel of food for four days. “Implementing the Sixth Schedule is the best way to safeguard Ladakh’s environment and to protect it from the worsening effects of climate change.”
His emphatic call for the implementation of the Sixth Schedule has raised the pitch of the ongoing protests, which so far have been led by organisations like the Ladakh Apex Body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance. It also marks a shift away from support for the central government after granting the status of Union Territory to Ladakh, experts said.
The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution empowers autonomous councils to administer rights over land, forest, sanitation, and employment, with the interest of safeguarding cultural and indigenous identities.
“The people here don’t want mining companies to come in. They don’t want industry to thrive at the cost of Ladkah’s environmental integrity,” Wangchuk told ThePrint.
From January 31 onwards, Wangchuk has invited people to join him symbolically in protest, from the comfort of their homes. His daily vlogs have gone viral and gained widespread support from all over the country. “If the government still doesn’t heed, I’ve decided I will do a fast at regular intervals. Next time, a 10-day fast, and after that, a 15-day fast,” he told ThePrint.
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Brewing discontent
The demand for statehood to Ladakh and its inclusion under the Sixth Schedule have been raised since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, which dissolved the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir, and gave way to the creation of two Union Territories – Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
“For years we were told Article 370 could not be touched, and then the government came and abrogated it swiftly, almost overnight,” said Gonbo Stobgyal, a Leh-based lawyer and supporter of the ongoing protests. “The logic is simple. If they can abrogate Article 370, why not grant us the Sixth Schedule?”
In 2021, the demand for Ladakh to be included in the Sixth Schedule reached Parliament, with its MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal demanding greater clarity on “what will be the role and responsibility of the central government, the UT administration and the Lieutenant Governor.”
“The BJP itself made the Sixth Schedule a poll promise, which is why people overwhelmingly supported them in both the Parliamentary elections in 2019 and the subsequent Hill Council elections. Now that they are going back on their word and evading it. Ladakh has been forgotten,” Wangchuk told ThePrint.
Ladakh has been administered by an Autonomous Hill Development Council since 1995, but it does not enjoy privileges under the Sixth Schedule. So far, the states to be included in the Schedule are Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram (who have set up three Autonomous District Councils each), and Tripura (one Council).
The growing discontent in Ladakh hasn’t surprised Navnita Behera, a professor of Political Science at Delhi University.
“The abrogation of Article 370 caused an abrupt shift of power away from the Hill Councils and to the bureaucracy with the Lieutenant Governor (L-G) appointed by New Delhi at the helm. Through the Autonomous Hill Council, the people of Ladakh, and especially Leh, enjoyed the fruits of making democratic choices because they could elect their councilors and hold them to account. It was only a matter of time before they realised that this had been taken away from them,” she told ThePrint.
UT status also led to a regression of rights for Ladakhi women because the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was overruled, in 2019, by the Ladakh Buddhists Succession to Property Act, 1943, Stobgyal said.
The Act in place now does not recognise the property rights of daughters, he claimed.
“We pointed this out to the L-G, who asked us to send a proposed amendment to the law, which we did in 2021. But we’ve not heard back,” Stobgyal said. “If the Sixth Schedule is granted to Ladakh, then Ladakh will be given the power to formulate a law that is just and progressive.”
According to Behera, the success of the protests depends on much more than the influence of popular figures like Wangchuk, and rests more on how long it can keep up its momentum and challenge the central government’s stance.
“The BJP might try to discredit him, since dissenting voices are no longer appreciated. The central government is likely to take into account, if not prioritise, its actions based on a national imperative, especially if the movement starts to gain credence in questioning its narratives in the lead up to the general elections in 2024,” she said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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