On Monday (18th March), climate activist Sonam Wangchuk stirred a controversy after making highly objectionable remarks about Goddess Sita during an interview. The activist who has been observing the ‘fast unto death’ protest for the last 13 days said that “Modi government has turned out to be such a Ram who rescued Sita from Ravan but sold her on the open market after that.”
In a conversation with NDTV, Sonam Wangchuk attacked the Bhartiya Janata Party while accusing it of not fulfilling the poll promise to include Ladakh in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution and give statehood to the region. However, during the interview, Wangchuk made an outrageous remark about Lord Ram and Goddess Sita and said, “In 2019 I never saw people of Ladakh so thankful when the Centre declared Ladakh a Centre-administered Union Territory. But, they saved us from one problem but landed us in another (Unhone ne hamein aasmaan se bachaya par khajoor mein atkaya).”
“I see it in the way that they [Central government] turned out to be such Ram who freed Sita from Raavan but didn’t take her home rather they put her on sale in an open market. So like this, they have left Ladakh open for industrialists and mining lobbies without any protection [from the government],” Wangchuk continued.
Many on social media have condemned the derogatory statements made against Hindu Gods.
Sonam Wangchuk’s 21-day climate fast
On the 6th of March 2024, climate activist Sonam Wangchuk announced a ‘fast unto death’ to draw attention towards climate change and raise the demand for the restoration of statehood for Ladakh. The activist is joined by many locals in the protest demanding the government to give assurance to protect the identity of Ladakh under the sixth schedule in addition to providing democratic representation. Notably, at present Ladakh has one seat in Lok Sabha, however, no representation in Rajya Sabha. In addition, the protestors are also demanding that a public service commission be set up in Ladakh to ensure jobs for the local people.
Notably, the anti-Modi lobby has been at the forefront of amplifying the Sonam Wangchuk-led protests in Ladakh. Recently, propagandist German YouTuber Dhruv Rathee made a video in Wangchuk’s support.
In an X post on 17th March, Rajdeep Sardesai wrote, “Tyranny of distance. Had @Wangchuk66 been fasting at Ram Lila Maidan, all cameras would have rushed. More power to you!”
Last month a massive protest was held in Ladakh’s Leh district wherein the protestors pushed their four demands: Ladakh’s statehood, its inclusion in the Constitution’s sixth schedule which grants it tribal status, job reservations for locals, and one parliamentary seat each for Kargil and Leh.
Notably, after Articles 370 and 35A were repealed, Ladakh became a Union territory without a legislature in addition to the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories on August 5, 2019.