Demonstrators attend a sit-in protest demanding constitutional safeguards and statehood in Ladakh / Photo: Reuters
Top climate activist Sonam Wangchuk is taking part in the demonstrations in the town of Leh. He has been on a fast, since the protests started on March 6, in the open in sub-zero temperatures and surviving only on salt and water. Ladakh’s thousands of glaciers, which helped dub the rugged region one of the “water towers of the world,” are receding at an alarming rate, threatening the water supply of millions of people. The melting has been exacerbated by an increase in local pollution that has worsened due to the region’s militarisation, further intensified by the deadly military standoff between India and China since 2020.Sonam Wangchuk is on a hunger strike demanding constitutional safeguards and statehood in Ladakh.