Sonam Wangchuk alleges ‘Banana Republic’ tactics as authorities reclaim univ. land

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.

He has also been active in flagging Chinese incursions into, and occupation of, Indian territory in Ladakh. A march to the border in 2024 to show the extent of the occupation had to be cancelled under administrative pressure.

“I have been receiving information about the UT administration and hill council officials from whistleblowers within different departments and urge that they also be investigated,” he said.

The big picture

The Ladakh administration has cancelled the land allotment to Wangchuk’s HIAL — a move that has sparked sharp backlash from local civil society groups and political platforms like the Leh Apex Body and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA).

The land in question — 54 hectares (over 1,070 kanals) in Phyang village — had been allotted to HIAL in 2018 on a 40-year lease. The administration claims the lease was revoked because the land was not used to set up a "recognised university," as originally stated, and no formal agreement was executed, which Wangchuk's team says is entirely inaccurate (see video above).

But Wangchuk and Ladakhi leaders say this is not about land or paperwork — it’s about silencing political dissent in a region already on edge over demands for statehood and constitutional safeguards.

As Wangchuk says in his post, "Ever since I started speaking about the vast pasturelands in Ladakh being given to power companies without any local consultations... and generally about the safeguards of #indigenousrights in Ladakh under 6th Schedule for cultural & environmental safeguards, I have been getting many gifts... The latest one is about cancellation of HIAL's land lease & removal of buildings..."

With PTI inputs