Wangchuk, Others Continue Indefinite Hunger Strike

New Delhi: Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk on Tuesday continued his indefinite hunger strike at Delhi’s Ladakh Bhawan along with his supporters and appealed that the Centre should resume talks on their demands.
Wangchuk, who is spearheading an agitation for Ladakh’s Sixth Schedule status, had started his fast on Sunday afternoon.
According to the protesters, they have not been approached by any government representative so far.
Mehdi, one of the activists who is sitting on fast with Wangchuk, said that a medical tests of the protesters was done on Tuesday morning and many had low blood pressure.
“We are sitting here in 40 degrees (Celsius)… It is the third day, we have been sleeping here in the open,” Mehdi said.
“There are old people sitting here as well, some have diabetes, blood pressure issues. But we are not going to leave until our demand is met,” he said.
Liyaqat, who is also participating in the hunger strike, said the people from Ladakh are not being allowed inside to meet them.
“People from Ladakh are not being allowed to come inside Ladakh Bhawan. This morning, some students had come to meet Sonam Wangchuk, but they were not allowed inside,” Liyaqat said.
“It is very sad that this is happening in a democracy, we are not allowed to express our pain,” he added.
Wangchuk, along with others from Ladakh, has been sitting close to the gate of Ladakh Bhawan, with he group sitting on some mattresses, which they are also using for sleeping, with a national flag placed next to them.
The protesters have been sitting on a hunger strike since Sunday.
Wangchuk and his supporters marched to Delhi from Leh to press their demand and were detained at the capital’s Singhu border on September 30. The ‘Delhi Chalo Padyatra’ is being spearheaded by the Leh Apex Body (LAB). The protesters were released by Delhi Police on the night of October 2.
However, Wangchuk said in an interview earlier that he he was kept in a “virtual detention” at the Ladakh Bhawan even after being released and they decided to sit there since they were not being allowed permission to sit on protest at the Jantar Mantar.
The group is demanding a meeting with top leaders — the president, prime minister, home minister — to raise their concerns over the issue of including Ladakh in the sixth schedule of the Constitution.
The sixth schedule of the Constitution includes provisions for the administration of tribal areas in the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram in northeast India. It establishes autonomous councils that have legislative, judicial, executive and financial powers to independently govern these areas.
Besides the inclusion of Ladakh under the sixth schedule, the protesters are demanding statehood, a public service commission for Ladakh and separate Lok Sabha seats for Leh and Kargil districts.