Sonam Wangchuk leads hundreds to Delhi demanding Ladakh’s key rights

More than 100 volunteers led by renowned innovator and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk started a foot march from Leh to the national capital Delhi on Sunday to urge the Centre to resume the stalled dialogue with the leadership of Ladakh on their four-point agenda.

The Delhi Chalo Padyatra is organised by the Leh Apex Body (LAB), which along with Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), are jointly spearheading an agitation over the past four years in support of statehood, extension of the Constitution’s sixth schedule, early recruitment process along with a public service commission for Ladakh and separate Lok Sabha seats for Leh and Kargil districts.

The talks between Ladakh representatives and the Central government ended in March without any concrete outcome.

Amid chants of ‘Bharat Mata ki jai' and 'we want sixth schedule', LAB chairman Thupstan Chhewang flagged off the march from NDS Memorial park with Wangchuk expressing hope that the government will greet them with a good news on reaching Delhi on Gandhi Jayanti, marking the birth anniversary of father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi, on 2 October.

“It is a matter of satisfaction that people from all sections of the society, including elders, women and youngsters, have joined this march in support of our demands…Sixth schedule of the Constitution and UT with legislature is our democratic right as we want development and management of the region in accordance with our wishes and aspirations,” said Wangchuk, who earlier in March held a 21-day long hunger strike in support of the demands.

He said this is a people’s movement and the government should fulfill the demands of the Ladakhis without a second thought.

“We are sharing borders with Pakistan and China who may be boasting of their technology but I want to tell my country that Indians should be proud of the people of Ladakh who are ready to sacrifice their lives for the nation,” he said.

Expressing confidence that more people will join the march enroute to Delhi via Himachal Pradesh, he said the people are enthusiastic which is evident that even a 90-year-old Ladakh citizen, who lives in Switzerland, is ready to join them in Delhi.

“This is another phase of our struggle and the KDA is not joining this march at the initial stage but will definitely give a positive response as the march moves to Delhi,” Chhewang said.

Tsering Dorjey, an elderly participant, said though his health will not allow him to cover the full distance of around 1,000 km by foot but “I will try to be part of the march as long as I can”.

“By this march, we want to convey a message that we are very serious with regard to our four demands,” he said.