Leh apex body calls off march of Sonam Wangchuk to China border
Leh Apex Body leaders said they have already achieved their objective of creating awareness among the people of the country about the plight of farmers
Accusing the administration of turning Leh into a “war zone” ahead of its march to the China border on April 7, the Leh Apex Body (LAB) on Saturday said it is withdrawing the proposed event to “avoid any sort of confrontation with the law-enforcement agencies”.
Addressing a press conference here, LAB leaders, including its chairman Chering Dorjay and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, said they have already achieved their objective of creating awareness among the people of the country about the plight of farmers, who are allegedly losing prime pasture land to huge industrial plants in the south and to “Chinese encroachments” in the north.
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In a post on X, social activist Sonam Wangchuk wrote, “Pashmina March achieves purpose before it starts... People of Ladakh have been fasting in protest for the last 32 days. These have happened in the most peaceful ways through prayers & fasts. The purpose of the Pashmina March was to highlight the plight of the Changpa nomadic tribes who are losing thousands of sq km of their land due to Chinese incursion in the north and our own corporates in the south. This purpose seems already fulfilled even before the march began due to the suppression attempts & overreaction of the government with the imposition of Section 144, curtailment of internet and restrictions on movement by turning Leh into a war-like zone with armed barricades on all roads leading to Leh city.”
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“Under these circumstances, chances of violence are very high, which could then be used to label this peaceful movement as anti-national. In view of these developments and the fact that the whole nation now knows about the reality of our pasturelands at the borders, the leaders of the Apex Body today decided to call off the Pashmina March on April 7. The ongoing peaceful fast will however continue. We thank all the leaders and people who came here from different parts of the country,” the post further read.
