How Ladakh protest leader Sonam Wangchuk went from Indian hero to ‘traitor’

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New Delhi, India — On the nighttime of August 5, 2019, hundreds of Kashmiris were arrested amid a crackdown by Indian information forces that followed the Indian government’s determination to portion the portion of its peculiar rights and presumption arsenic a state.

Sonam Wangchuk celebrated, and thanked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“THANK YOU PRIME MINISTER,” helium wrote connected X, past Twitter, “for fulfilling Ladakh’s longstanding dream.”

One of India’s best-known innovators and acquisition reformers, Wangchuk was referring to a decades-long request from galore successful Ladakh, for the acold godforsaken bordering China to beryllium separated from Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian-administered portion of the disputed portion that Pakistan besides claims. Until August 2019, Ladakh was portion of Jammu and Kashmir. With the Modi government’s move, it had been made a abstracted administrative entity, a alleged national territory to beryllium governed federally by New Delhi.

But portion the remainder of Jammu and Kashmir — besides reduced to a national territory from a authorities — was allowed to support a locally elected legislature, Ladakh was not. That deficiency of immoderate accidental implicit their aboriginal would dilatory crook the peaceful Ladakh into a tinderbox of governmental unrest against Modi’s authorities successful the consequent six years. And starring that protestation question is simply a disillusioned Wangchuk.

On September 26, Wangchuk was arrested and transported much than a 1000 miles from location to jailhouse successful Jodhpur, Rajasthan, charged with “anti-national” activities, conspiring to overthrow the government, aft a breakaway radical from his protestation engaged successful convulsive clashes with information forces. Indian paramilitary soldiers changeable dormant 4 protesters, aft they had acceptable the section bureau of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party connected fire, and authorities accused Wangchuk of instigating the violence.

The aforesaid BJP and Modi authorities had antecedently turned to Wangchuk for promotional campaigns successful Ladakh. BJP-led governments successful different states had sought his proposal arsenic an educationist. Today, that one-time poster child, the inspiration for 1 of Bollywood’s astir iconic and palmy movies ever, stands accused of treason — with officials imputing a imaginable Pakistan manus down his run for law rights for Ladakh.

“Suddenly, successful a month, the aforesaid authorities that was decorating him is calling him an anti-national,” Gitanjali Angmo, Wangchuk’s wife, told Al Jazeera. “The penning is connected the wall: this is to soundlessness him, to scare him due to the fact that they could not bargain him.”

‘Grief successful Leh’

Early successful September, section activists successful Ladakh, led by Wangchuk, began a hunger strike. It was the latest successful a bid of peaceful protests they had held successful caller years demanding law protections nether what is known arsenic the Sixth Schedule. That statute allows parts of India that are predominantly inhabited by Indigenous tribes autonomous administrative and governance structures. More than 90 percent of Ladakh’s colonisation consists of specified tribes.

But connected the 15th time of the strike, immoderate youth-led demonstrators broke distant and torched the BJP bureau successful Leh, Ladakh’s capital, connected September 24. Security forces fired back: Four people, including a seasoned soldier, were killed and dozens were near injured. The medication past launched a monolithic crackdown, detaining implicit 80 people, including the protestation leaders who had been earlier sitting connected a peaceful hunger strike.

Wangchuk was arrested nether the National Security Act, a preventive detention instrumentality that allows imprisonment without proceedings for a year. Over a twelve section activists surrendered to the constabulary successful solidarity with Wangchuk and different detainees.

It was the worst unit and crackdown successful the modern past of Ladakh.

Stanzin Dorje, a section businessman successful Leh successful his precocious thirties, had sat adjacent to Wangchuk and others, joining the hunger strike. But amid the crackdown, helium was — similar the remainder of Ladakh — restricted to his location nether an unprecedented curfew-like deployment of equipped forces connected the streets of Leh. Dorje grew progressively despondent, his friends said.

On Wednesday, Stanzin died by suicide. He is survived by his woman and 2 children.

“He was Sonam’s fan. He kept asking astir him, kept taking his name,” said Tsering Dorje, the president of Ladakh Buddhist Association, a section radical cardinal to protests. Stanzin was besides a subordinate of the association’s wide council. “He felt agitated and precise sad. We are each asking, ‘What was [Wangchuk’s] crime? He was conscionable sitting there. Why did they apprehension him and nonstop him to a jailhouse extracurricular [Ladakh]?” said Dorje.

Wangchuk’s emergence from an technologist adjacent doorway to an icon of Indian ingenuity and sustainable surviving made him a section icon, Dorje said, wherever young radical looked up to him. “We are each grieving successful Leh for our people, martyred oregon jailed,” helium added.

A nationalist hero

Born successful Uleytokpo, a upland colony astir 70km from Leh, successful 1966, Wangchuk was home-schooled by his mother, Tsering Wangmo, till helium was nine. In 1975, erstwhile his father, Sonam Wangyal, a politician, became a curate successful the Jammu and Kashmir government, the household moved to Srinagar, the superior of Indian-administered Kashmir.

But Wangchuk struggled successful Srinagar schools due to the fact that helium spoke lone Ladakhi, portion classes were taught successful Urdu and Kashmiri. So he moved to a schoolhouse successful New Delhi for precocious school, and went connected to survey mechanical engineering astatine the National Institute of Technology successful Srinagar. In 1988, soon aft graduating, helium co-founded the alternate schoolhouse exemplary SECMOL, oregon Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh, with different students to betterment the acquisition strategy successful Ladakh.

Until then, astir 95 percent of Ladakhi students failed their authorities exams amid a conflict with the program which was successful Urdu — a connection alien to galore successful Ladakh — and different taste barriers. Urdu, spoken overmuch much wide successful Kashmir, was the ascendant connection of the authorities erstwhile it was a unified entity.

At SECMOL, the fig of students clearing 10th people roseate from 5 percent to 55 percent successful 7 years, and past to 75 percent. Wangchuk besides founded SECMOL Alternative School Campus adjacent Leh, with lone 1 admittance criterion: a failing people successful regular schools. At SECMOL, students were taught done hands-on, experiential methods, similar moving vigor stations, farming, repairing machines, and managing the field themselves.

He was awarded the Jammu and Kashmir’s Governor’s Medal successful 1996 for “reforming Ladakh’s acquisition system” done his work.

Meanwhile, successful the 1980s, Wangchuk’s father, Wangyal, besides staged aggregate hunger strikes for the designation of Ladakh’s communities arsenic Indigenous tribes.

In 1984, past Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi flew down to Leh and offered Wangyal a brushed portion successful a symbolic outreach to extremity 1 of 1 those hunger strikes: She committed to recognising the tribal presumption of Ladakh’s communities.

In the years aft Wangchuk established SECMOL successful Leh, the lad excessively gained nationalist fame. He became known for innovations specified arsenic crystal stupas — artificial glaciers to store h2o successful wintertime — and star tents for Indian soldiers, stationed successful harsh winters of the Himalayas.

Wangchuk besides became known arsenic a clime activist, promoting sustainability, said Manshi Asher, a researcher moving successful the Himalayan portion connected biology justness issues for implicit 25 years.

On his way, Wangchuk collected respective awards and titles, including the Magsaysay Award from the Philippines, the Asian mentation of the Nobel Prize, successful 2018.

His attack to acquisition inspired the much-celebrated quality Phunsukh Wangdu, played by superstar Aamir Khan successful the movie 3 Idiots. Khan was portrayed arsenic an unconventional genius who defied rote learning, challenged rigid teachers, and showed that existent acquisition laic successful curiosity.

The film’s takeaway — that brilliance comes from questioning the strategy alternatively than topping it — resonated acold beyond India. It became 1 of Bollywood’s biggest planetary hits, particularly successful China, wherever the communicative struck a chord with students caught successful competitory exams, sparking debates astir the intent of acquisition itself.

Now, Wangchuk is being accused of much than conscionable breaking with the mould. He has been charged with challenging the Indian authorities itself.

Ladakh constabulary main SD Singh Jamwal has said that Wangchuk is nether probe aft what helium described arsenic “credible inputs” suggesting links to Pakistan, claiming that an arrested Pakistani quality operative past period had allegedly circulated videos of Wangchuk’s protests.

The constabulary person besides cited a travel by Wangchuk to Pakistan to be an lawsuit organised by the Dawn media radical successful collaboration with the United Nations, successful insinuating links with Islamabad, New Delhi’s arch enemy. At the clime league successful Islamabad, Wangchuk had, successful fact, praised Modi’s efforts astatine tackling clime change.

Meanwhile, his apprehension has lone aggravated the situation successful Ladakh. Local groups starring the protests person withdrawn from the talks with the Modi government, demanding an unconditional merchandise of detainees, including Wangchuk, and compensation for those killed successful the firing by information forces.

“We volition bash an agitation [if the authorities does not conscionable our demands], due to the fact that however could we not?” asked Dorje, of the Ladakh Buddhist Association. “Our radical are dead. Our radical and leaders are successful jailhouse now. What different enactment bash we person now?”

‘Out of pan, into the fire’

Despite his absorption connected acquisition reforms and conservation, Wangchuk had progressively started to instrumentality governmental positions successful caller years.

When Indian and Chinese soldiers clashed successful Ladakh’s Galwan Valley successful 2020, Wangchuk urged radical to boycott Chinese products. In 2023, helium announced a clime accelerated astatine Khardung La, 1 of the highest motorable passes successful the world, to underline the clime alteration interaction connected the fragile ecosystem of the Himalayas. He was enactment nether location detention.

Then, adjacent year, helium announced a accelerated until decease for the request of law safeguards for Ladakh — taking connected New Delhi directly, calling retired the concern mining lobby. He besides led the “Pashmina March” that year, wherever locals walked with their herds to item threats to pastoral livelihoods.

A week earlier his apprehension successful September, Wangchuk recalled his elation successful August 2019, erstwhile the Modi authorities revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s peculiar status. But later, helium said successful a video statement, helium realised that “we were retired of the occurrence pan, into the fire.”

Ladakh, helium said, had been near “with nary forum of democracy.”

The intersection of clime activism with day-to-day authorities excessively was inevitable, said Asher.

“In a centralised and top-down decision-making of the capitalist and extractive economical model, wherever firm interests are prioritised and the authorities has the eminent domain, radical and ecologies from wherever resources are extracted suffer out,” Asher told Al Jazeera. “Here, the interest of sustainability converges with the request for antiauthoritarian and decentralised governance and protective policies.”

So, Asher added, the demands for greater autonomy were intricately linked to the clime threats that the portion and its radical face.

“In a society, a idiosyncratic tin look distant from authorities — but authorities would ne'er permission that person,” said Sajad Kargili, a halfway subordinate of Kargil Democratic Alliance, different radical presently starring the talks with the authorities successful Ladakh. “Sooner oregon later, the authorities had to drawback up with Sonam Wangchuk; helium cannot flight that due to the fact that of his innovator past. Politics caught up to him, naturally.”

Kargili said that helium does not hold with Wangchuk connected his politics. “But portion I’m his critic, today, we are besides his biggest supporters due to the fact that we stock a genuine conflict for our rights,” Kargili told Al Jazeera.

By framing Ladakhi leaders arsenic ‘anti-nationals’, the Modi authorities was playing with fire, Kargili said. “Ladakh is simply a sensitive, borderline region, adjacent China and Pakistan, and it is highly important to support radical connected board,” helium said. “With this iron-fist approach, the authorities is alienating the radical of Ladakh — and determination is increasing mistrust among the radical now.”

Other Ladakh leaders, Kargili said, were preparing for the anticipation that they excessively could beryllium arrested astatine immoderate time.

‘Ticking clip bomb’

Angmo, Wangchuk’s woman and co-founder of Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, Ladakh (HIAL), said that her husband’s apprehension came aft a months-long “witch hunt” by authorities against her husband’s question — threats to donors, intimidating visits by investigating agencies, and the cancellation of licenses needed to person overseas donations.

Still, Angmo said the question would survive.

Angmo is present juggling enquiries from information agencies, tribunal cases and trying to support SEMCOL and HIAL afloat. Two of their staffers are besides nether detention with different leaders.

In a property connection connected Tuesday, September 30, the Ladakh medication said that Wangchuk “had suggested ‘overthrow’ of authorities connected lines of ‘Arab Spring’, if their demands were not met … On aggregate occasions, helium suggested self-immolation by Ladakhis connected lines of protests successful Tibet.”

Blaming him for the unit successful Leh that near 4 dead, the Ladakh medication said that “even though different Leh Apex Body leaders (including elders) rushed to pacify the assertive crowd, Mr. Wangchuk made nary attempts to guarantee peace.” The apex assemblage is simply a conjugation of political, religious, and assemblage groups successful Leh that came unneurotic to request law safeguards for the borderline region.

“There is nary question of witch-hunting oregon fume screen. Actions taken by the instrumentality enforcement agencies are based connected credible inputs and documents. The agencies should beryllium allowed to proceed with their probe impartially without vitiating the process,” the Ladakh medication said successful its statement.

To Angmo, the government’s onslaught connected her hubby and different protesters threatens to crook Ladakh into a “ticking time-bomb”, similar Indian-administered Kashmir, wherever decades of crackdowns and alleged quality rights abuses person near the portion perpetually connected edge.

“Why are they bent upon making Ladakh into Kashmir?” she asked.

But, astir of all, she said, she was disquieted for her husband. India’s Supreme Court connected Monday asked the Modi authorities to see sharing the elaborate grounds for Wanchuk’s apprehension with Angmo, arsenic it acceptable an October 14 day for a proceeding connected a petition she has filed against her husband’s prosecution.

“I don’t cognize his condition, oregon what they are feeding him, oregon if helium has [access to] his medicines,” she said. “Fear is being drilled down connected america to halt america from saying the truth: this is not a ideology anymore.”

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