Activist, innovator and Bollywood superhit movie 'Three Idiots' fame Sonam Wangchuk of Ladakh has ended first leg of his fast in which he was protesting with his hundreds of fellowmen in Leh city of Ladakh from 6 March in protest against the Indian central government's policy in Ladakh.
On Tuesday in an X post he announced ending his fast and he said "END 21st Day OF MY #CLIMATEFAST. I'll be back... 7000 people gathered today. It was the end of the 1st leg of my fast. Btw 21 days was the longest fast Gandhi ji kept."
Wangchuk declared that from Wednesday women's groups of Ladakh will take it forward with a 10 Days fast, then the youth, then the monks from monasteries... then me again n so on.
He said "The journey has only started. But we still hope n trust we won't have to do all this. Sooner rather than later a sense of responsible leadership will arise".
Three Idiots' Wangchuck was the hero of the movie, who's nickname was 'Rancho'. As the movie story goes, three friends went to Leh, the capital of Ladakh, in search of their dear friend who were once classmates in engineering university.
The character 'rancho' of the movie is actually Ladakh environmentalist Sonam Wangchuk. He has been agitating for a long time demanding the speedy implementation of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of the Union Territory along with the demand for full statehood of Ladakh.
He declared, 'Our nomadic population is endangered due to the establishment of huge Indian factories in the south and Chinese occupation in the north. To highlight these issues, we are planning a border march with 10,000 Ladakhi shepherds and farmers soon.
According to the Indian media Hindustan Times, Sonam Wangchuk has been protesting with four demands in this hunger strike.
The demands are: first, To implement the Union Territory status that New Delhi was supposed to give to Ladakh as per the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
Second, a separate Public Service Commission should be set up for Ladakh. Thirdly, two separate Lok Sabha seats to be created in Leh and Kargil.
And fourth, a lot of industry is being developed in Ladakh. As a result, the possibility of natural disasters is increasing. Even if the people's livelihood is good for now, the entire Ladakh will be destroyed in a few days. So Sonam Wangchuk has been demanding special measures to protect Ladakh and other Himalayan regions.
Sonam Wangchuk alleged that the BJP led central government has refused to fulfill its promises after four years of delay.
This has resulted in a violation of people's trust and confidence in leaders, governments and elections. If this continues, it will set a bad precedent for all elections and governments, he alleged.
Wangchuk said, the government calls India the 'Mother of Democracy'. But if India denies the democratic rights of the people of Ladakh and keeps it under bureaucrats controlled from New Delhi, it can be called the 'step mother of democracy' in the case of Ladakh.
Read more: Three Idiots Fame Sonam Wangchuk Is On Hunger Strike Against Government Policy On Ladakh
