Mobile internet services suspended in Leh after Sonam Wangchuk's arrest

The administration on Friday suspended mobile internet services in Leh, hours after climate activist Sonam Wangchuk was arrested in connection with the violence in Ladakh on Wednesday that claimed four lives and left several others injured. 

59-year-old Wangchuk launched a protest against the central government, demanding the inclusion of Ladakh in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. The innovator-reformist has also demanded statehood for the union territory (UT), which was bifurcated from Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019 after the Centre abrogated Article 370. 

Wangchuk-led NGO's FCRA licence cancelled

On Thursday, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) also cancelled the foreign funding licence of the Students' Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) founded by Wangchuk, with immediate effect. In its order, the union home ministry said Wangchuk's NGO received the amount in cash which was in violation of section 17 of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act.

"Further, an amount of Rs 3.35 lakh has been intimated by the association... as FC donation from Sonam Wangchuk. However, this transaction is not reflected in FCRA account in violation of section 18 of the Act," the MHA order stated.

'Scapegoat tactic'

Wangchuk, meanwhile, has criticised the government's action against him, calling it a part of a 'scapegoat tactic'. Speaking to news agency PTI, Wangchuk has alleged that the central government is building a case against him and is planning to imprison him for a couple of years, adding that he is ready to go to jail.

"To say it was instigated by me, or sometimes by Congress, is to find a scapegoat, rather than addressing the core of the problem, and this will lead us nowhere," Wangchuk told PTI. "They may be clever in making somebody else a scapegoat, but they are not wise. At this time, we all need wisdom rather than 'cleverness' because youths are already frustrated."