When Indira Gandhi flew to Leh to meet Sonam Wangchuk’s father: Why Congress is reviving the 1984 episode amid Delhi protests | Today’s news
Decades after Prime Minister Indira Gandhi visited Leh to meet Ladakh leader Sonam Wangyal during his hunger strike for more rights for the region’s people, the Congress opened the historic episode while supporting Wangyal’s son Sonam Wangchuk in his current campaign seeking the resignation of Education Minister Dharmedra Pradhan over alleged irregularities in competitive exams.
The hunger strike of the educator and climate activist entered its 20th day on Friday at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.
In 1984, Indira Gandhi visited Leh to hold talks with Wangyal, who was fasting to seek Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for the Ladakh communities. The Congress has now drawn parallels to this overlap as Wangchuk continues his campaign on issues relating to Ladakh, including demands for special status and constitutional guarantees.
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Sonam Wangchuk is on hunger strike demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over alleged irregularities related to the NEET-UG examination.
The Congress is reviving the memory of Indira Gandhi’s 1984 visit to Leh where she met Ladakh leader Sonam Wangyal during his hunger strike to emphasize the importance of government dealing with protesters.
Previous hunger strikes, such as those led by Anna Hazare and Irom Sharmila, led to significant political and legislative changes that highlighted the impact of such protests in India.
Doctors warned that Wangchuk’s health had reached a critical stage due to the prolonged hunger strike, with the risk of organ damage if it continued.
Sonam Wangchuk received support from various opposition leaders and organizations, including the Congress party, which publicly expressed concern over his health and called the government to account.
Citing examples of previous governments dealing with protesters despite differences, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera pointed to Indira Gandhi’s meeting with Wangyal in 1984 and the UPA government’s dealings with agitation groups in 2011.
“This is what Smt. Indira Gandhi Ji did in 1984. This is what the Dr. Manmohan Singh government did in 2011. They understood that the first responsibility of the government is engagement, even in the face of disagreement,” Khera said.
He accused the current government of adopting an “indifference” approach to the demands for education reforms raised by Congress president Rahul Gandhi, the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) and the Jantar Mantar protesters.
Read also | Who is Sonam Wangchuk? What made him famous and who was his father
“However, this government has chosen indifference. It has refused to address the demand for education reforms – whether raised by Shri Rahul Gandhi and NSUI and IYC workers across the country or by the protesters at Jantar Mantar. Such indifference is not only arrogant; it is callous and completely unworthy of a democracy,” Khera said.
Congress’s renewed focus on the 1984 meeting came amid reports that Sonia Gandhi, president of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP), was seeking a more visible party response. Congress president and Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and several other party MPs attended the meeting, which was reportedly held on Thursday.
During the discussion, Sonia Gandhi referred to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s visit to Leh in 1984, when she met Ladakhi leader Sonam Wangyal, father of activist Sonam Wangchuk, amid his hunger strike seeking recognition of Ladakh’s Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities, the Indian Express and others reported, citing sources.
Read also | Phunsukh Wangdu from ‘3 Idiots’ was not based on Sonam Wangchuk: Aamir Khan
Though Rahul Gandhi did not meet Wangchuk during the protest, he was in Dehradun on July 17 to attend a Congress rally on the same cause.
The meeting between Indira Gandhi and Sonam Wangyal in 1984 later became part of a longer political process. Five years after the agitation began, the Center granted Scheduled Tribe status to eight communities in Jammu and Kashmir in 1989 under a presidential order.
Read also | Why did Sonam Wangchuk tell Abhijeet Dipke to ‘shut up’ amid hunger strike?
The Congress link to the Indira Gandhi-Wangyal meeting also found support online, with Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) spokesperson Saurav Das sharing a post with a photo of the interaction from 1984. Referring to the episode, Das wrote, “The government must learn how to respond and accept responsibility.”
Political career of Wangchuk’s father
Wangyal began his political career in the National Conference before moving to the Indian National Congress, where he later held a ministerial position in the Jammu and Kashmir government after being inducted into the cabinet in 1975. He was later expelled from the Congress in 1987 for what the party described as “anti-party” activities. He died in 1998.
Activism by Sonam Wangchuk
Sonam Wangchuk, meanwhile, stayed away from electoral politics but remained active as an educator and climate activist, advocating for Ladakh rights and environmental concerns. He was recently jailed for six months under the National Security Act (NSA) following protests for greater safeguards and a special status for the Union Territory, which was created after Jammu and Kashmir lost its statehood in 2019.
