The people of Ladakh feel their representation has been reduced, that with only one parliamentary seat they have lost their national-level voice.
Published Sep 29, 2025 | 8:00 AM ⚊ Updated Sep 29, 2025 | 8:12 AM
It was Ladakh and Leh which had raised their voice against the authority of Kashmir Valley.
Synopsis: Authorities should be aware of why a peaceful, democratic protest turns into anger. The agitation for Ladakh’s rights has been going on for thirty-six years. Along with Jammu & Kashmir’s loss of special status, Ladakh’s regional protections were also removed. The nominal representation that the mountain-regional councils once provided is no longer meaningful. Governance as a centrally administered territory without a legislature has no space for people’s participation in governance.
It may seem to have ended, but nothing really ends. Even if heads roll, something else keeps sprouting up time and again.
On one side, funeral pyres smoulder; on the other, festivals continue. In a sprint relay, the torch that is in one’s hand goes into another’s.
After the total disintegration, a new journey begins, as if decline only makes the next voyage more certain. Dawn follows dark night – not merely as hope.
It is the very essence of human life. There will always be some struggle and frustration, which gives no pleasure to anyone, but it is not desirable that waters should remain still always.
Against the backdrop of the country’s conditions, developments in Ladakh are particularly striking. No doubt, it would be a misadventure if a mouse challenged an all-powerful regime.
But the logic of the populace who respond to the actions of a regime is different. When rulers ignore legitimate appeals made patiently and with restraint for a long time, people decide to declare their demands more firmly and with greater intensity.
In that heat, even a few sparks would flare. What do governments that lack creativity in solving problems do? They repeat the same mantra over and over: they look at invisible hands or the flow of foreign funds.
They trace motivations for the protests from movements like the Arab Spring and Nepali youth uprising.
It was Ladakh and Leh that raised their voice against the authority of the Kashmir Valley. They were in Kashmir, where once people had demanded autonomy and, for some time, even independence.
Those living in Ladakh and Leh had sought the recognition they deserve and the right to self-rule. Even though they could get governance councils, the representation granted was limited, and dissatisfaction continued.
In 2019 Article 370 was abrogated and special status revoked, making Jammu & Kashmir a centrally administered territory with a legislature and Ladakh a centrally administered territory without a legislature.
The people of Ladakh feel their representation has been reduced, as they have only one parliamentary seat; they have lost their national-level voice.
They are asking for state-like status, for inclusion under the Scheduled Areas Act to ensure special protections for tribal regions, and at least two Lok Sabha constituencies.
The leadership of this public movement is being provided by Sonam Wangchuk, an environmental activist.
An engineer, an education reformer, an activist working on climate change, and a creative mind who develops new models, Sonam Wangchuk is campaigning not only in Ladakh but across the Himalayan regions to stop environmental destruction.
He opposes industrial pollution that melts mountain glaciers, the conversion of green plains into large corporate holdings, the encouragement of excessive tourism, and the hiring of outsiders in the tourism industry.
He demands measures to protect local culture, traditions and natural resources. He founded an educational and cultural initiative for Ladakh called SECMOL (Sustainable Education and Cultural Movement of Ladakh) and implemented reforms in the education system.
He designed eco-friendly solar power supply solutions at the SECMOL campus. For fundamental changes to Ladakh’s education system, he was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2018.
He also developed techniques like ice-stupa technology so water is available during the planting season. Through hunger strikes, marches and protests, he has repeatedly tried to bring Ladakh’s issues to the attention of the government and the world.
Last year his 16-day hunger strike brought the nation’s attention back to Ladakh’s problems. This month, he began another fifteen-day fast. As the movement took a violent turn, it was suspended.
Authorities should be aware of why a peaceful, democratic protest turns into anger. The agitation for Ladakh’s rights has been going on for thirty-six years.
This movement is a unified protest by Buddhists from one part of the region and Muslims from Kargil in another – a movement that expresses regional solidarity. Along with Jammu & Kashmir’s loss of special status, Ladakh’s regional protections were also removed.
The nominal representation that the mountain-regional councils once provided is no longer meaningful. Governance as a centrally administered territory without a legislature has no space for people’s participation in governance.
On top of that, Ladakh’s natural resources are being handed to investors. What more reason is needed for the people’s dissatisfaction to explode in anger?
If Wangchuk—an educated environmentalist and democrat—is now arrested under national security laws, who will be left to articulate the people’s aspirations?
If baseless allegations are used to defame him, what will be the government’s reputation in the eyes of the people who know him?
If mentioning the Arab Spring or Nepali unrest is considered a crime, then praising soldiers’ rebellions or national movements should also be labelled as acts of terrorists or extremists.
Even though we claim we are committed to fulfilling the aspirations of Ladakh’s people, rulers now accuse Wangchuk of misconduct. What message does this act send to people who expect the government to hear their problems and demands?
We hear and see that forests are being cleared for corporations. Now the same fate is befalling the Himalayas.
They succeeded in consolidating control and tightening Jammu & Kashmir, but the removal of special status and protection of resources for locals—in Jammu then, and now in Ladakh—is leading to protests.
Will they be able to stop those who are protesting from expressing themselves? Even though the government is known to act in corporate interests and suppress protests harshly, why are the people of Ladakh not remaining silent?
Silencing at one place only drives expression elsewhere. If the government resorts to cruelty against people who, without taking up arms, are bringing moral pressure, it would only lead to the formation of a moral vacuum in the government.
There has been a deliberate campaign over the last decade to present anti-government protests and movements as having a common playbook, to pass on operational methods from one to another and thereby expand activities.
They labelled them toolkit movements and used that label to press criminal charges. Whether movements actually have toolkits or not, governments invariably use that to justify a response.
If a people’s movement grows powerful, it is called foreign-inspired. They allege foreign funding for their leaders; only recently, they even claimed he visited Pakistan. They try to link certain words or external incidents to the movement. They denigrate the movement and its leadership. They say environmental protection blocks development and brands it anti-national.
That the ‘toolkit’ is being applied to Sonam Wangchuk and the Ladakh movement is surprising – and the fact that there is nothing new in it is even more surprising.
Nepal or Ladakh are sending out a message to the world and activist communities, but they are not preaching arson or resorting to violence.
If Nepal sent out a message that one should not remain silent when the rot that has set in institutions is fast spreading, Ladakh is advocating restraint while spreading its message to the entire world and demonstrating its strength in unity.
The messages are meant for governments too, and it is their responsibility to listen to them.
(Views are personal. Edited by Dese Gowda)
