All isn't well with how Sonam Wangchuk's career has gone

SRINAGAR: Phunsukh Wangdu, the protagonist of the cult 2009 film 3 Idiots, would famously work his way out of trouble with "All izz well". Ladakhi Sonam Wangchuk , said to be the inspiration behind the endearing character essayed by Aamir Khan, has since gained a reputation more as a political provocateur than a proponent of philosophical life hacks.

Wangchuk, variously described as an innovator, activist and climate warrior, did not stumble into politics overnight.

Four months after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, he released a video thanking PM Narendra Modi for making Ladakh a Union territory, albeit with a veiled warning. "People here have started asking whether UT status was granted to exploit Ladakh's vast resources, and whether our resources will be exploited the way China does in Tibet," Wangchuk said, urging the Centre to safeguard the region under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.

In January 2023, he announced a five-day climate fast at Khardung La, one of the world's highest passes, where winter temperatures plunge to minus 40 degrees Celsius. The administration prevented him from reaching the site, forcing him to pitch tent in Leh instead. The protest, complete with political speeches, music, solidarity gatherings and anti-establishment rap, galvanised Wangchuk's mission.

A year later, in October 2024, he ended another 16-day fast only after the Union home ministry agreed to resume talks with Ladakhi organisations. After negotiations stalled, he launched a new 35-day hunger strike on Sept 10 this year, demanding statehood for Ladakh with Sixth Schedule safeguards. "It's possible that we might die. If we survive, we will return for another hunger strike of six weeks," he declared.

Last Wednesday, he called off the fast after violent protests erupted across the region, leaving four dead and dozens injured.

Born in 1966 in a village near Leh, Wangchuk had been homeschooled until he was nine. In 1975, after his father Sonam Wangyal became a minister in the then J&K govt, the family moved to Srinagar. He later studied engineering at NIT Srinagar and got another degree from CRATerre School of Architecture in Grenoble, France.

In 1988, Wangchuk co-founded the Students' Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh to reform the education system. He argued that Ladakhi children, struggling with textbooks designed for other regions, were being unfairly labelled poor performers.

Wangchuk's activism and political discourse in Ladakh now run parallel. The roots of the present turmoil lie in the 2020 Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council polls, when most political parties called for a poll boycott until Sixth Schedule protection was granted.

By 2021, the Leh Apex Body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance emerged, uniting religious and political groups to demand safeguards for Ladakh's indigenous people. Though Wangchuk acted independently, both organisations supported his campaign.