Ladakh Tensions Rise: Sonam Wangchuk’s NSA Arrest and Transfer to Jodhpur Jail
New Delhi: Determined to pin the blame for the recent violence in Leh on Sonam Wangchuk—a key spokesperson for the popular movement demanding constitutional protections for Ladakh—the government has arrested the iconic environmentalist under the draconian National Security Act and whisked him away to Jodhpur, over a thousand kilometres away.
In a press release issued late on Friday night, the administration of the Union Territory of Ladakh justified the arrest by claiming, “Time and again it has been observed that Shri Sonam Wangchuk has been indulging in activities prejudicial to the security of the State and detrimental to maintenance of peace and public order and services essential to the community.”
The press release gave no details of what these “activities” had been in the past but squarely blamed the September 24 violence in Leh on Wangchuk, who was on a hunger strike when angry crowds vented their anger on the administration:
“Despite clear communication from the Government for the meeting of the High-Powered Committee (HPC) and offer of prior meetings before the HPC, Shri Sonam Wangchuk, with his ulterior motive, continued his hunger strike,” the press release claimed. “His series of provocative speeches, references to Nepal agitations, Arab Spring etc. and misleading videos resulted in the violent protests of 24.09.2025 in Leh where institutions, buildings and vehicles were burnt down and, in the aftermath, Police personnel were attacked leading to the unfortunate death of four individuals.
The entire episode could have been avoided if he could have risen above his personal and political ambitions by calling off the hunger strike when the dialogue with the Government was resumed on the same agenda.”
The administration also said that in order to prevent Wangchuk from “further acting in a manner prejudicial to maintenance of public order” it had decided—”based on specific inputs”—to detain him “under the NSA and move him to Jodhpur”.
The NSA allows the government to detain any person for an initial period of up t0 12 months provided it secures the rubber stamp of a three-member advisory board that it sets up. The advisory board approves, the detention period can also be extended beyond 12 months.
The latest official action came within a day of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs cancelling the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act license of Wangchuk’s NGO, Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL).
In a trenchant post on X, All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Saket Gokhale has raised questions over the FCRA cancellation, alleging that the MHA deliberately misinterpreted a donation of Rs 4.93 lakh received by SECMOL in 2021-22 for “awareness on food security and sovereignty” as a “study on sovereignty of India”.
The order dated 25 September which was shared by Gokhale on X, note that Wangchuk told the MHA that the donation of Rs 4.93 lakh was meant for “creating awareness among youth on issues such as migration, climate change, food security and sovereignty and organic farming” through workshops and trainings.
However, under the sub-section “Finding of the Ministry”, the MHA noted that the NGO “had admitted that the donor organisation has given the donation for study on sovereignty of the country” and that the fund had been “spent in line with the objectives of the foreign donors”.
“Foreign contribution cannot be accepted for study on sovereignty of the nation. This act of the association is against the national interest of the country in violation of section 12 (4) (f) (i) of the Act,” the ministry noted, citing sections which state that any foreign donation should “not … affect prejudicially the sovereignty and integrity of India”.
“Home Ministry turned ‘awareness on food security & sovereignty’ into ‘study on sovereignty of India’. This makes ZERO sense. Like ZERO SENSE. This is how vendetta works. The word ‘food sovereignty’ used by the NGO was bizarrely turned it into ‘sovereignty of India’ by the (prime minister Narendra) Modi Govt to cancel their FCRA license,” Gokhale said.
‘Food sovereignty’ was used as a term in 1996 by Via Campesina, a Belgium based farmers’ group of 182 organisations in 81 countries and it was later adopted by many international organisations, including the World Bank and United Nations.
The TMC leader continued: “This is why our national security under (Union home minister) Amit Shah has become a joke. The agencies of the Modi Govt are not interested in protecting the nation. Instead, Modi’s agencies will brazenly use the dumbest explanations in order to frame & target those who oppose Modi-Shah”.
A day after Leh witnessed the worst clashes between security forces and local residents which left at least four civilian protesters dead and dozens more injured, most of them minors, the MHA announced on Thursday that it had cancelled SECMOL’s FCRA license.
The ministry alleged that SECMOL had indulged in at least four violations of the FCRA guidelines including a deposit of Rs.3.5 lakh into its FCRA account during 2021-22 in violation of section 17 of the act.
In response, SECMOL had told the ministry that the amount was received from the sale of an old bus which was procured from a FCRA deposit.
The MHA also flagged three donations of Rs 18,200, each having violated section 17 of the FCRA act. SECMOL responded that these funds were received from volunteers towards their food and accommodation.
“However, this amount was mistakenly transferred into our FCRA account instead of the local account. Our website clearly specifies that Indian volunteers should transfer contributions to the local account and foreign volunteers to the FCRA account. Despite these instructions, the volunteers inadvertently sent to the wrong account,” the SECMOL said.
The MHA order pointed out that the statement was an admission by SECMOL that local funds were credited into the FCRA account “in violation of section 17 of the Act” under which those with FCRA licenses “must receive all foreign contributions exclusively into a designated ‘FCRA Account’.”
The ministry also alleged that a deposit of Rs 19,600 by one Megha Sanghavi from the Indian Institute of Management Indore had violated section 12(4) (a) (vi) of the FCRA.
Under this section, a person “making an application for registration or grant of prior permission” can be penalised for using foreign contributions “for personal gains or divert(ing) it for undesirable purposes”.
This section of the law among others was also invoked to cancel the FCRA license of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation in December 2022.
In response, SECMOL claimed that the deposit of Rs 19,600 was received for Sanghavi’s food and accommodation for volunteering at the NGO in Leh and it was returned to her.
“The association has returned an amount of Rs. 19,600/-to the donors itself in violation of conditions for registration under section 12(4)(a)(vi) of the Act”, the MHA said.
Ordering the cancellation of SECMOL’s FCRA license, the ministry added: “In view of violations as enumerated above u/s 8(1)(a), 17,18,19 and conditions of registration under section 12(4) (f) (i)of the Act, the FCRA registration certificate of the association is liable to be cancelled in exercise of power u/s 14 of the Act”.
Also Read: Sonam Wangchuk Arrest in Ladakh Sparks Political Uproar Over Statehood Protests
