What Was Centre's 'Ladakh Promise' That Sonam Wangchuk Wants It To Fulfil?

Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and fellow Ladakhi protesters detained by Delhi police were released and submitted demands including statehood for Ladakh and protection of the Himalayan ecosystem.

Climate activist Sonam Wanghcuk and other fellow Ladakhis were released from detention on Wednesday evening.

Source : PTI

Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and several others from Ladakh who were detained by Delhi police and released on Wednesday evening submitted a memorandum to the Centre listing their demands including statehood and protection of the fragile Himalayan ecosystem. 

The group has been assured by the Ministry of Home Affairs of a meeting with India's top leadership, said Wangchuk in a post on X. 

The climate activist was detained and kept at Bawana police station while other 'padyatris' were kept at three other police stations at the Delhi-Haryana border. All were escorted by police personnel in buses till Rajghat at about 9:30 pm and later, they were allowed to go. 

What Are The Protestors' Demand?

The memorandum submitted by the 'padyatris' to the government of India demanded to resume talks over Ladakh's statehood within 15 days. 

"Apart from solving immediate problems of the people of Ladakh, local democracy will give the responsibility of stewardship of the fragile ecology of this sensitive trans-Himalayan region to the indigenous tribal people who have been living there in harmony with nature for millennia and will be affected for generations if mistakes are made in this sensitive region," the memorandum stated. 

The padyatris also urged the government to reconsider India's target for Carbon Neutrality from 2070 to a more urgent timeframe. 

Appreciating initiatives like Mission Life by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the memorandum urged the government to promote it more effectively. "Reducing on the demand side is the only way to reduce on the supply side to save damage to nature, either by governments or corporate world over," it stated. 

Wangchuk was leading the 'Delhi Chalo Padyatra' from Leh a month ago demanding safeguards under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution for the Union Territory among other things. Around 170 people who were part of the march were detained on Monday night at Delhi's Singhu border and were taken to different police stations where they went on a hunger strike.

What Did The Centre Promise?

Following the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A, the Bharatiya Janata Party had promised Constitutional safeguards to the people of Ladakh during the election to the Autonomous Hill Development Council in 2020, Wangchuk said. Earlier this year, Wangchuk claimed that the Centre backtracked on its promise when Union Home Minister Amit Shah offered to extend Article 371-like protections to the people of the region. 

In a meeting with the Leh Apex Body (ABL) and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), Shah said that their concerns related to jobs, land, and culture would be taken care of, but the government would not go as far as to include Ladakh in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, reported the Indian Express. 

On the issue of statehood that is one of the key demands, Wangchuk said that the Centre never promised it and it is only an appeal and demand from the people of Ladakh. "Statehood is not a promise. Many people say that statehood for Ladakh was promised by the Centre, but that's not true. It is only an appeal and demand from the people of Ladakh that they should enjoy the same fruits of democracy as the rest of India," said the education reformist in an interview with India Today. 

"However, the Sixth Schedule was a clear promise. You can check the manifestos of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and the 2020 Ladakh council. It was on the top agenda of the manifesto that Ladakh would be included in the Sixth Schedule," he said. 

The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution addresses the governance and administration of tribal areas in the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram. Inclusion of Ladakh, where a majority of population belongs to Scheduled Tribes, would grant the elected bodies in the region — Autonomous District and Regional Councils (ADCs and ARCs) — with the power to administrate tribal areas. 

The elected bodies will have the power to make laws  on subjects such as forest management, agriculture, administration of villages and towns, inheritance, marriage, divorce, and social customs.