Can people be happy only with development?: Sonam Wangchuk on Ladakh’s core demands
In an interview with PTI, Ramon Magsaysay Awardee said that the local people were “development” on the other side of the border in China, but the people in Tibet are not happy.
This comes as a three -day hunger strike and sixth program status for Ladakh in Kargil on Saturday.
Wangchuk said about the changes in Ladakh, one of the highest settlements in the world, said that people admitted that the development of roads increased and the budget has increased several times.
“I will say the truth as they are … People in Ladakh say that they can see a difference in terms of development (Ladakh), roads were built …”
However, “There is also improvement in China … But is the people of Tibet happy? No, because this development is not done in their hands or for them,” he said. “Is it repeated in Ladakh? In this case, there would be a cage made of gold. There is no platform where people can come together and decide what kind of development they want. This would be the development of someone else, (and) that is the problem of Ladakh.” He said. Ladakh shares the eastern border with the East Tibet’s autonomous region and shares strong cultural and religious ties with the Polish region Tibet.
In the middle of the two regions in Ladakh, talks with the representatives of Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) seemed to be stuck.
“This dialogue did not start again; it was suspended … 15. (July), then 25, then at 28 … So people wanted to start again to express their pain.” He said.
The hunger strike in Kargil, which started on Saturday, will end with a public meeting on 11 August.
“People from all walks of life will come to listen to the demands of the people and to solve these problems peacefully, because it is not good for any border area to have instability,” he said.
The climate activist stressed that the Ladakh people stand by the Indian Army, that they helped in every way possible in every war in which India fought, but some leaders did not draw attention to their demands due to their “short -mindedness”.
“I think this is very short -sighted, some narrow vision leaders do it for the benefit of several companies. However, this will do too much harm to the country, unfortunately it can affect our security.” He said.
However, he hoped to pay attention to the demands of the government. “Our hope and prayer, the government will understand and solve our pain. We do not want to come back to Delhi,” he said.
Last year, Wangchuk and other activists marched from Leh to Delhi to put pressure on their demands. In the national capital, Ladakh even made an indefinite strike except Bhavan.
“But … Some companies are given priority according to Ladakh people … We will be forced to take such steps. 5-6 weeks can be a longer hunger strike; at the same time if we have to walk from Leh ten times, we will do it,” he said.
“The world should see how difficult it is to follow Gandhi’s path.”
Ladakh, who left Jammu and Kashmir and carved into a union region in 2019 after the elimination of Article 370, has witnessed a series of protests with the demands of protection under the constitution and the sixth program of the state for the last few years.
The three -day hunger strike was launched in Kargil on Saturday and claimed that there was a delay in the next talks about Ladakh’s demands.
The last meeting of the High Powerful Committee (HPC) was held on May 27 in the New Delhi and the Union Home Nityanand Rai State Minister, where reservation and reservation and residence issues were resolved.
