Two days ago on 31 August, Ladakhi climate activist and educator Sonam Wangchuk posted a video on X, confirming that local authorities were targeting his Himalayan Institute of Alternative Learning (HIAL) by cancelling the lease on the land allotted to the university over seven years ago.

Calling the move a sign of ‘banana republic’ governance, Wangchuk said the Ladakh administration had plastered notices indicating the government would take back the land and demolish the campus built over five years. He questioned the timing of this action, noting it had not occurred in the past six years but coincided with upcoming hill council elections in October.

“The Hill Council of Ladakh promised Sixth Schedule safeguards in their last manifesto, but now they want to win the election without fulfilling that promise. I, along with the people of Ladakh, will not let that happen,” Wangchuk said.

He alleged being subjected to threats ranging from arrest to land lease cancellation, and claimed that officials were now considering involving the ED (Enforcement Directorate). Wangchuk welcomed an ED probe, asserting that it would expose the institute’s eight years of work conducted without salary and his personal financial contributions.

Wangchuk added that while HIAL enjoys tax exemptions, he himself pays income tax as a service to the nation. He also claimed to have donated half-a-million rupees to the Ladakh UT government at its formation.

The climate activist drew national attention with his indefinite hunger strike in March 2024 which he began when talks between Ladakh’s civil society leaders and the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) regarding Constitutional safeguards for Ladakh came to a dead end.

Pursuing the issue, he and hundreds of followers also undertook a foot march to Delhi, forcing the MHA to resume Ladakh talks in December 2024, though they remain inconclusive.