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Sonam Wangchuk Pashmina March: Climate activist and education reformer Sonam Wangchuk will hold the ‘Pashmina march’ on April 7 to highlight the ‘ground realities’ in Ladakh and to protest against the alleged Chinese incursions into the grazing areas of the ecologically fragile region. Wangchuk had appealed to the people of Ladakh to join the march, which was part of the agitation for statehood. 

Wangchuk announced the ‘Pashmina march’ akin to Mahatma Gandhi’s Dandi march, a day after he called off his 21-day hunger strike demanding statehood for Ladakh and safeguarding the rights of tribal people in the region under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. 

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Why Sonam Wangchuk Is Launching Pashmina March?

After ending his 21-day long hunger strike over demand for statehood for Ladakh and its inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, climate activist Sonam Wangchuk announced ‘Pashmina March’, scheduled for April 7, and invited people to join the border march to see the ground reality of the alleged encroachment of grazing land at the India-China border. He also emphasised that nearly 10,000 people will join the march. 

Sonam Wangchuk has announced 'Paschima March' to protest the alleged Chinese incursions into grazing areas of Ladakh. (Image: Screengrab from video shared on X)

The education reformer, who inspired actor Aamir Khan’s character Phunsukh Wangdu in Aamir Khan's 2009 film ‘3 Idiots’, claimed that over 4,000 sq kilometres of land has been grabbed by China.

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"Like Mahatma Gandhi carried out the Dandi March, we are going for a march to Changthang. We will go with shepherds and they will show us up to what point our grazing land was and where it stands today,” Wangchuk said. 

Wangchuk also asked the administration to keep prisons ready since a 'jail bharo andolan' will be launched following the border march. "If the need arises, we will be starting a non-cooperation movement in Ladakh in the coming weeks and months. The administration here will be paralysed,” he said. 

Massive protests took place this year in Ladakh as leaders of Buddhist-dominated Leh and Muslim-dominated Kargil joined hands under the banners of the Apex Body of Leh and the Kargil Democratic Alliance demanded statehood for Ladakh and its inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. 

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