Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk has called off his Sunday’s border march from Leh in view of the mounting tension due to the curbs imposed on the protest by the Ladakh Administration.

Wangchuk said that the ongoing peaceful fast will, however, continue.

The purpose of the march seems to have already fulfilled even before the it began due to the suppression attempts and 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.

“Under these circumstances chances of violence are very high, which could then be used to label this peaceful movement anti-national,” he wrote on X.

“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 kms of their land due to Chinese incursion in the north and our own corporates in the south,” he wrote.

“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 7 April. The ongoing peaceful fast will however continue. We thank all the leaders and people who came here from different parts of the country,” he added.

Earlier during the day, in a video message, Wangchuk pointed towards heavy deployment of forces, barricades and teargas shells in the Leh district to thwart the march in which hundreds of Ladakhis are expected to participate. The district magistrate of Leh has imposed restrictions under Section 144 banning the march.

In a hard hitting message, Wangchuk said; “Attempts to arrest peaceful youth leaders and even singers continue. Seems they want to turn a most peaceful movement violent and then brand Ladakhis as anti-nationals. Government seems worried only about Ladakh’s effects on their votes and on mining lobbies… not the people here nor even national security.”

He alleged that a few people were taken from the protest site to the police station where they were forced to sign some papers and were threatened with arrest. However, the situation was defused after local religious leaders of different faiths intervened.

Meanwhile, Wangchuk’s protest has received support also from retired top Army officers who suggested that the government should defuse the situation by accepting the demand for granting Sixth Schedule status to Ladakh.

Former Chief Minister and PDP President Mehbooba Mufti wrote on X; “Imposing Section 144 & suspending mobile data – a norm for us Kashmiris has now been extended to Ladakh. It exposes GOIs (Government of India’s) fake claims of normalcy & also its high handedness by infringing upon the fundamental right to peacefully protest and dissent. Ladakhis have genuine apprehensions that their land & resources are being outsourced to BJP’s cronies at the cost of wrecking environmental havoc in Ladakh. Today on one hand China has occupied a big chunk of their grazing land & on the other GOI is plundering their resources. We Kashmiris understand their pain & stand with them against the onslaught on their identity & resources.”