In Sonam Wangchuk, the Centre finds a scapegoat for its failures in Ladakh

Ladakh, a region known for its peace-loving people, incredible landscapes and cultures that are guaranteed to soothe even the most troubled soul, has been thrown into a full-blooded crisis.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government, which took control over the region in 2019 after separating it from Jammu and Kashmir and converting it into a Union territory, is seeking to divert attention from its failure to fulfill key promises. It has found a scapegoat in prominent educationist innovator, and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk.

Over the last five years, Wangchuk has become the most prominent face of a growing movement in Ladakh urging Constitutional safeguards to determine its own future. High on the list of demands are protections under the Constitution’s Sixth Schedule, which allows regions with a Scheduled Tribe majority some degree of self-governance.

The BJP promised this to the region in 2019 and then again before the elections to the Ladakh Hill Council the next year. But it never followed through. Meanwhile, unemployment among the region’s youth has steadily risen.

It is in this context that several people, including Wangchuk, began a fast on September 10. But 15 days into their fast, a call for a demonstration by the youth wings of the Leh Apex Body (a multi-institutional coordination committee...

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