0947hrs:
Countdown to end of 2025: 97 days
Waking up in Bagh and continuing routine of walking on empty stomach first thing in morning. Today is Day 4 in this regard.
I have a critical target to reach here in this district - that of achieving the value of 1 share of #PeaceBondAJK2025 (equivalent to £1,000 UK pounds sterling) - and the potential of doing so in Bagh is probably higher than in any other district.
Let's see what transpires....
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The following notes are in reference to Sonam Wangchuk, who was arrested today and packed off to jail in Jodhpur, Rajasthan about 1,000 miles away from his home in Ladakh.
I have always admired him as a polymath and innovator extraordinaire who is perhaps the foremost expert in JKA, who can navigate us all out of the ecological disaster we seem to be rushing towards, in the most ecologically sensitive region in the world.
News source: Al Jazeera
Here's an excerpt from that news story:
Wangchuk was arrested and transported about 1,600km (1,000 miles) from home to jail in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, charged with “anti-national” activities, conspiring to overthrow the government, after a breakaway group from his protest engaged in violent clashes with security forces. Indian paramilitary soldiers shot dead four protesters after they had set the local office of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on fire, and authorities accused Wangchuk of instigating the violence.
End of excerpt..
Here is a (guest) article I'm sharing in relation to Sonam Wangchuk's character:
WHO IS SONAM WANGCHUK?
WRITTEN BY NARGIS NATARAJAN
(and don't let any Party IT cell version tell us otherwise 😉😀)
"It’s easier to fight foreign rule because then you are armed with the right emotional tools. But battling against your own becomes a tad more difficult. Welcome to our new POP culture- the Politics of Protest, where every demonstration is an International conspiracy. And where every voice of dissent is given innovative names.
Who exactly is Mr. Sonam Wangchuk? He was one of the ‘Three Idiots’ who inspired a hit film. To sum up his ‘Anti- National activities’, he is a qualified Engineer and an Education reformist. Fresh out of college, he teamed up with his brothers and five others to set up the Students' Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL)- a programme training teachers to promote subjects relevant to the Ladakhi culture, prioritizing English over Urdu to prepare students for higher education. This ‘calculated’ effort proved to be a game-changer. In 2016, the earthen construction of SECMOL, designed by using solar technology, won the International Terra Award for the best building.
In 2018, for his ‘uniquely systematic, collaborative and community-driven reform of learning systems’ in a remote area, this ‘dangerous’ man was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award. If that wasn’t enough, the creative genius also went on to build a solar-heated tent for our soldiers to keep them warm in extreme cold. How appalling! I mean, can you even imagine people undertaking such personal sacrifices just to help their own people?
But wait. With his ‘cold’ and ‘chilling’ designs, this treacherous man is also credited with conceiving the Ice Stupa - tall artificial glaciers for storing water. Yes, he challenged Nature, terrorized the Himalayas, captured the retreating glaciers and invented a way to store winter water for irrigation. Just so the Ladakhi farmers would not face any more water crisis.
These towering Ice structures (inspired by the Buddhist Stupas) stand as an awe inspiring symbol of innovation and sustainability in the enchanting region. The frozen project has also been recognized globally for its innovative approach to water conservation and climate adaptation.
That’s not all, because the ‘anti-national’ was kind enough to share his environmental and educational innovations with mountain peoples across the Himalayan belt and went as far as Switzerland. WOW! How can a simple, non-confrontational ‘radical rebel’, apart from repeatedly fasting unto death, also have time to continue to dream of ways to help the people of Ladakh? It’s ridiculous, right?
Since 2019, when promises for Statehood were continuously ignored, the people of Ladakh felt alienated and cheated. Ever since, massive PEACEFUL protests have been going on, demanding jobs for the unemployed; democratic rights for Institutions; safeguards for the Constitution; and a greater role in the governance.
Two years back Wangchuk announced a fast, to highlight the effects of climate change on Ladakh's fragile ecosystem. The authorities put him under house arrest.
In March 2024, the then 58 year old started a fast-unto-death, not in the warmth of his room but in minus forty degrees at the Khardung La Pass, demanding protection of Ladakh from industrial and mining lobbies. Nothing happened.
Last September, armed with 20 others, the climate activist marched ALL the way from Ladakh to Delhi on foot. After a month long walk, they were detained outside Ladakh Bhawan. What he was asking for was nothing unreasonable. It was an assurance promised repeatedly for the Union Territory, but NEVER delivered. Nothing happened.
On September 10th this year, the stubborn Mr Wangchuk began another 35-day fast. Yet again! Finally something happened.
After FIVE years of peaceful protest, when the floodgates of frustration was finally let loose and violence crept in, Wangchuk surrendered. He called off his fast saying his ‘message of peace failed’. When he was about to hold a Press Conference, he was arrested.
‘All is well’ was a popular motivational chant in 2009. We were told that whenever ‘life goes out of control’, all we had to do was just yell ‘AAL IZZ WELL! And lo and behold, all our problems would be solved! If only it was that easy.
So is ALL well in the State of Ladakh?
You tell me; because change happens only when YOU decide who YOU want to become- the Know-It-All, the Blamer, the Cynic OR the Pragmatist, the Rationalist and the Realist!
#AllIsNotWell
#SonamWangchuk
#IceStupas
#SolarTent
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End of guest article....
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