Shyam Singh Rawat
There was a time when the government of the country used to formulate public welfare schemes and implement them transparently, keeping the joys and sorrows of the people in mind.
If people were upset with the government or protested over essential issues, the government would engage in dialogue with them to resolve the matter.
It was during that same era that a mass movement and a phased hunger strike were carried out in 1984 to secure Scheduled Tribe status for the tribal people of Ladakh. On that occasion, Sonam Wangchuk’s father, Sonam Wangyal, undertook a fast unto death.
To bring that movement and fast to an end, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi herself came to Leh in 1984.
She broke Sonam Wangyal’s fast by offering him juice and promised to grant tribal status to the Ladakhi community.
Those who have crushed their human sensibilities and turned corpses into steps to power today derisively call protestors “_andolanjeevi_” — professional protesters. Naturally, they have lost their humanity and take pleasure in the suffering of others.
That is why they turned their backs on the farmers who protested at the gates of the capital for 13 months against the three farm laws, until more than 700 farmers died.
Today, the educated social activist and scientist son of that same Sonam Wangyal is sitting on a fast unto death at the doorstep of Parliament for the last 18 days, demanding reforms in the country’s education system. But the power-hungry _Duryodhanas_ in government can neither see nor hear anything.
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