Sonam Wangchuk pays tribute to Ratan Tata on Day 5 of hunger strike

Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who is on an indefinite hunger strike along with his supporters at Delhi's Ladakh Bhawan, paid tribute to Ratan Tata on Thursday, 10 October.

The hunger strike has entered its fifth day on Thursday.

In a post on X, Wangchuk paid homage to Tata, who died on Wednesday night at the age of 86, and said Tata Sons, owned by the Tata Trust, redistributes its wealth through social work.

"I want to pay my respects and homage to Ratan Tataji, who headed the Tata Sons. I've always admired them for their work for social welfare," Wangchuk said, adding that 66 per cent of Tata Sons is owned by Tata Trusts, which redistributes this wealth through its activities in education, health and rural development.

"Very few companies in the world do this, where impact is above the income of the company," he said.

Wangchuk talked about the ESG (environmental, social and governance) index and said corporations are ranked not just according to their size or income, but also by their impact on the society and environment and their own governance.

"So next time you engage with a corporate or buy their products, don't just look at the price, but also look at their ESG ranking and their background and that will do a lot of good to our nation because like governments, companies can do a lot of good or a lot of bad, especially to the fragile ecology of Himalayas," he said.

Wangchuk, along with his supporters, marched to Delhi from Leh demanding Ladakh's inclusion in the sixth schedule of the Constitution.

They were detained at the capital's Singhu border on September 30 by the Delhi Police and released on the night of October 2.

The group is demanding a meeting with top leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution includes provisions for the administration of tribal areas in the north-eastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.

It establishes autonomous councils that have legislative, judicial, executive and financial powers to independently govern these areas.

The protesters are also demanding statehood, a public service commission for Ladakh and separate Lok Sabha seats for Leh and Kargil districts.

The march to Delhi was organised by the Leh Apex Body, which along with the Kargil Democratic Alliance, has been spearheading the agitation.