Climate and the importance of being Sonam Wangchuk

Wangchuk is extremely critical of people living in mega cities whose lifestyle is very carbon intensive and climate-unfriendly

- RASHME SEHGAL

Ladakh-based Sonam Wangchuk has emerged as one of the world's leading environmentalists. In 2018, he was conferred the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award in recognition for his work on community-driven reforms which focused on the youth. A true Gandhian, he is using the principles of non-violence protest and fasting to bring home to the world and to the Indian public (read government) the need for granting greater autonomy to Ladakh to give local communities the right to protect their fragile environment and water resources.

On January 26, 2023, he undertook a five-day climate fast in freezing minus-20° temperatures to highlight how important it was for Ladakh to be granted the Sixth Schedule status in order to get legal protection to take care of their region's resources. The fast was undertaken in Leh's iconic Polo Ground and in an overwhelming show of solidarity, hundreds of young and old people joined him in the fast. The government did not accede to their demands and so he went on a fast this year in March for 21 days.

The government paid no heed and so he and his band of 100 eco-warriors, which included an 80-year-old, undertook a padyatra covering over 1000 kilometres in order to reach Delhi on Gandhi Jayanti to mark the birth anniversary of another great environmentalist, Mahatma Gandhi. This "Delhi Chalo Padyatra" was jointly organised by the Leh Apex Body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance who have been demanding restoration of statehood, extension of the Sixth Schedule to this region, the setting up of a Public Services Commission for Ladakh and separate Lok Sabha seats for Leh and Kargil districts.