While Concluding 'Climate Fast', Sonam Wangchuk urges people to join him

Engineer-turned-innovator Sonam Wangchuk urges people to join him on the concluding day of the 'Climate Fast' to Save Ladakh under the sixth schedule of the Indian Constitution.

Hyderabad: While concluding the fourth day of his 'Climate Fast', engineer-turned-innovator Sonam Wangchuk urged people to join him on 30th January for the final day of the 'Climate fast' to 'Save Ladakh' under the sixth schedule of the Indian Constitution. In a video he shared, Wangchuk urged people to organise a fast in their areas in solidarity with Ladakh.

He said that people will be joining him on the last day of the fast from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm, and urged people to hold a fast for the cause in their respective surroundings in a peaceful manner and share their efforts on social media. On Saturday he claimed that he was being asked to sign a bond by the Union Territory administration, amid his ongoing 'Climate Fast' to secure the environment in the ecologically sensitive Ladakh region. "CALLING LAWYERS OF THE WORLD!!! The #Ladakh UT administration wants me to sign this bond even when only fasts and prayers r happening," he tweeted. "Please advise how right is it, should I silence myself! I don't mind arrest at all," he wrote in the tweet.

The image attached by Wangchuk showed a part of the paper where he is directed not to make any comments, speeches and not hold any rallies or "any activity related to the recent events in Leh district, at the present time, since it has the potential of endangering the peace and tranquility and law and order...". The document also asks him to pay Rs 1,00,000 in cash in case of a breach in terms after the bond is signed.

A subsequent post on Saturday morning, notably, saw pictures of the innovator lying outside in a sleeping bag, as security personnel stood nearby. Wangchuk announced the 'climate fast' through a video message on January 21, noting "All is not well" in Ladakh - a reference to 3 Idiots, a renowned Bollywood flick from 2009 based on his life.

In the message, he went over environmental and social consequences for the locals in Ladakh, a Union Territory following the abrogation of Article 370 back in 2019, if it is not included within the sixth schedule by the Centre - which will provide reservations to the local populace, their livelihoods and culture. Emphasizing that sixth schedule inclusion was the only way for the UT to conserve its natural and human resources, Wangchuk said the fast was an appeal to the Central Government to pay heed to the issue.