For over two weeks, thousands of people in Ladakh, the remote region of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, have been protesting in freezing temperatures, demanding fundamental rights, including rights over land, and protection for the territory’s fragile ecology.
According to the Kashmir Media Service, Ladakh, situated between India, Pakistan, and China, has grappled with territorial disputes and the adverse impacts of climate change. Shifting weather patterns in sparsely populated villages have disrupted lives through floods, landslides, and droughts.
Renowned climate activist Sonam Wangchuk is participating in the demonstrations in Leh town. Since the protests began on March 6, he has been on a hunger strike, enduring sub-zero temperatures and sustaining himself solely on salt and water.
Wangchuk, also an engineer dedicated to sustainability solutions at his Himalayan Institute of Alternative Ladakh, has termed his protest a “climate fast.”
“We are already witnessing a climate disaster, and these glaciers and mountains will be devastated without checks on unbridled industrial development and military maneuvers in the region,” Wangchuk expressed to the media from the protest site in Leh. The accelerated melting is exacerbated by local pollution aggravated by the militarization of the region, further intensified by the deadly military standoff between India and China since 2020.
Additionally, Wangchuk emphasized Ladakh’s urgent need for ecological protection, stating, “It’s not just a local disaster in the making but an international one, as these mountains are part of the Greater Himalayas intricately linked to over 2 billion people and multiple countries.”
Wangchuk highlighted that Ladakh’s nomads are losing vital pastureland to large-scale Indian industrial projects.
In August 2019, Ladakh was illegally separated from Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir after New Delhi revoked the disputed territory’s special status.—KMS
