Skip to main content

Ongoing hunger strike in Ladakh draws fresh attention during PM’s Arunachal visit

By A Representative 
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Arunachal Pradesh recently for two days. During his speech, a student from Keladha Adi District displayed a banner that read, “Stop the hunger strike, give Ladakh their rights,” in support of Ladakh climate activist and innovator Sonam Wangchuk. The student was later detained by the police. The incident drew attention to the ongoing hunger strike in Ladakh.
This is Wangchuk’s second major strike. His earlier 21-day “climate fast” in March 2024, held in sub-zero temperatures and later continued through women-led relays, ended without concessions from the government.
The current hunger strike, led by Wangchuk, is a non-violent protest calling for greater autonomy for the Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh. The demands center on land rights, cultural preservation, environmental protection, and local governance, issues that have been debated since Ladakh became a separate UT following the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. The movement is backed by the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), representing both Buddhist-majority Leh and Muslim-majority Kargil.
As of September 23, 2025, the strike in its 14th day. It has been described by organizers as peaceful and “apolitical.” LAB has also decided to exclude political leaders, including members of the Congress party, to maintain neutrality ahead of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) elections in October. More than 100 villagers from remote areas bordering China have joined the agitation, along with a 35-day relay fast involving 15 participants, including Buddhist monks.
According to Wangchuk and supporters, the protest is aimed at safeguarding the environment, ecology, and people of Ladakh.

Comments

Post a Comment

NOTE: Hateful, abusive comments won't be published. -- Editor

TRENDING

The 'Dr' debate masks a larger crisis in allied-health education

By Dr P K Gupta*  India’s allied-health professions have long operated in a fragmented landscape of universities, hospitals, State authorities and private institutions, each with its own nomenclature, curriculum and standards. The National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions Act, 2021 was meant to correct this by creating a unified national framework for education, professional regulation and institutional recognition. Few dispute the need for such oversight. The real question is whether standardisation is quietly becoming synonymous with longer courses, additional internships and new professional titles—changes that risk masking deeper gaps in clinical training, institutional capacity and affordability.
3 comments
»

Arrival of USS Lincoln: A ‘leisure trip’ to Thailand or a neo-colonial move to commodify women?

By Benyasiri Eimviriyapong   The arrival of the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) for a ‘leisure trip’ in Thailand before returning to its campaign of destruction against the people of West Asia demands immediate interrogation and opposition. For us Thai people, and those in sites of American plunder across the globe, this a rattling of the US’ cold war colonial chains on its most loyal lap dog, while conducting a war of aggression in Iran and the ongoing genocide in Palestine. In allowing the USS Lincoln to dock, the Thai ruling elites are once again facilitating a system of imperial violence that extends far beyond Southeast Asian borders, a system which in our case, is predicated on sexual violence and femicide.
2 comments
»

Pilgrimage or pollution? The waste crisis of Indian faith

By Raj Kumar Sinha*  In today's times, there are certain issues that are constantly talked about and discussed, yet no visible impact seems to be made. Beyond water, soil, and pollution, one crisis that continues to be overlooked is waste. Like other life-threatening problems, waste too is gradually moving toward burying and obliterating us. After the Kanwar Yatra in Haridwar, approximately 8,000 tonnes of waste were left behind on the riverbanks, including bottles filled with urine. 
Post a Comment
»