From Icon To Accused: Sonam Wangchuk Arrested Over Ladakh Violence

Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who was spearheading the demand for statehood for Ladakh and had been on an indefinite fast for 15 days, has been arrested. Wangchuk’s journey from thanking PM Modi for granting Ladakh’s UT status in August 2019 to inciting violence that left four people dead as recently as September 25 symbolises the dangers of political opportunism and external manipulation. Thousands of people had come out and indulged in arson and stoning. Local BJP office was set on fire. Wangchuk called off his indefinite fast soon after the violence spread. It is worth mentioning that the Centre had scheduled October 6 for talks between the agitators and the high-powered committee. Previously, informal talks were scheduled to begin on September 26. Despite these firm assurances, the agitators resorted to arson and violence. It’s not easy to understand the logic behind it. BJP leaders allege that Congress instigated the violence because the party wanted to create a “Nepal-type” situation in India. Why does Wangchuk now raise hackles in India’s power circles? One it is his close and continuing association with foreign funded LEAD India and International Association for Ladakh Studies. His climate project ICE STUPAS faced criticism from the locals for being unsustainable. His recent calls to halt the Army’s infrastructure projects in Ladakh citing climate concerns have sparked serious unease. Besides his American wife Rebecca Norman and her connection with Ford Foundation and Soros’s Open Societies have been a matter of concern. In 2023, Wangchuk began his outdoor hunger strikes, demanding “constitutional safeguards” like inclusion in the Sixth Schedule. It is unbelievable that the engineer-innovator Wangchuk who had developed solar power tents for Indian Army and inspired actor Aamir Khan’s character Phunsukh Wangdu in the popular film Three Idiots, is being portrayed as a NGO person using foreign funds– to undermine the country.