Ladakh is like a colony governed by officers from far off places: Activist
Leh: Renowned Ladakhi activist Sonam Wangchuk, who is on hunger strike to press for Ladakh’s demands, has said that the people of the region now feel it [Ladakh] is like a colony in the olden times and officers from faraway places come to govern them.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Sonam Wangchuk, an engineer, innovator and education reformist, is observing a 21-day fast in Leh, amid freezing temperatures, to press for Ladakh’s special status under the sixth schedule of the constitution of India and statehood. These demands have dominated the politics of the region after Ladakh was dismembered from Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir and granted a Union Territory status in 2019 by Modi-led Indian government.
Wangchuk started the fast on March 6 after parleys between leadership of Ladakh and Indian home ministry reached a dead-end.
Wangchuk, in a media interview over phone from the venue of his hunger strike that entered the 7th day today, said that Ladakhis are very dejected, disappointed and frustrated due to Indian government’s approach to their demands. He said New Delhi has been very careless and insensitive towards genuine demands of the people of Ladakh.
He said Ladakhis now feel it is like a colony and commissioners from some faraway places come and govern them. “They have no democracy, no voting rights to elect their representatives to an Assembly. It is like a colony in the olden times,” he said.
