The High Cost of Being Seen in the Himalayas

By Iffat Aurooj

The morning in Leh was colder than usual when the sound of ambulance sirens cut through the thin September air. Two elderly hunger strikers, who had been fasting for weeks, were rushed to the hospital. Their bodies had given way long before their will.

Within hours, the streets filled with young protesters carrying banners and stones. Vehicles burned, government buildings were attacked, and police fired tear gas to push the crowds back.

Four people died and more than eighty were injured before nightfall.

The uprising began with an act of resistance when Sonam Wangchuk, a Ladakhi engineer and environmentalist known for his work on climate adaptation, began a hunger strike on September 10. His demands were clear: statehood for Ladakh, constitutional protection under t