Activist calls for border march in Ladakh to mark land lost to China
Around 10,000 people from Ladakh will march to the border along China to showcase how much land has been lost to the neighbouring country, climate activist and education reformer Sonam Wangchuk said on Tuesday.
Mr. Wangchuk has been protesting in open in subzero temperature in Leh, surviving only on salt and water for the past 14 days, to demand constitutional safeguards for the Union Territory.
“We know from the shepherds that they are not allowed [anymore] to go to the places that they always used to go. In particular areas, they are stopped kilometres before where they used to go earlier. We will go and show whether land has been lost or not,” Mr. Wangchuk said.
The march would be taken out in Finger area (north and south bank of Pangong Tso), Demchok, Chushul among others along the Line of Actual Control with China.
He said two dates have been shortlisted for the march — March 27 and
April 7.
“The march will also highlight the areas, prime pasture lands, that are being turned into solar parks. On one hand, nomads are losing their land to corporates who are coming to set up their plants, maybe mining in future...on the other hand they are losing pasture land to China which is encroaching from the north, the Chinese have captured huge chunks of land in the last few years,” he said.
No-go areas
After the June 15, 2020 incident in Galwan where 20 Indian soldiers were killed in violent clashes with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, several rounds of talks between the two armies have taken place leading to disengagement and creation of buffer zones or nogo areas.
At the centre of Mr. Wangchuk’s protest that has received huge support from local people is the failure of Statehood talks between Ladakh civil society leaders and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on March 4.