On March 6, in Leh, a town situated at about 3,500 metres in the cold, arid Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh, Sonam Wangchuk, Ladakh’s famous educationist and environmentalist, began a 21-day hunger strike that he called a “climate fast”.
The strike was in support of thousands of Ladakh residents who have been demanding safeguards under the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution so they can make decisions regarding the use and management of resources such as land and water. They currently can’t.
Mr. Wangchuk discontinued his hunger strike on March 26; it is currently being continued by women in Leh. If their demands stay unmet, the youth, monks, and the elderly have said they will join the hunger strike as well, in phases.
