Wangchuk deserves to be severely punished

So far, four people have been killed and more than 80 injured in the violence that broke out in the Union Territory of Ladakh. Central Reserve Police Forces and the Army have been deployed there and the situation is tense there. Numerous public properties were damaged in the violence. Police vehicles were set on fire and a BJP office was torched.

The movement of the so-called environmentalist Sonam Wangchuk is the cause for all this ! He began a hunger strike on 10^th September. His demand was that Ladakh be granted Statehood and that the Sixth Schedule be restructured to protect Ladakh’s land, culture and civilisation. These were not demands that required immediate, on-the-spot action; yet, he adopted an extreme stance and incited local youth. Considering his demands, how could Statehood be granted to a territory like Ladakh with only about 300,000 people ? The Union Government, acting on local demands, had granted Ladakh the status of a Union Territory in 2019 and opened the way for its development. In truth, they should have been satisfied with this; but, as they say, once a demand is met, the next demand begins. That is exactly what happened with Ladakh.

An attempt to destabilise Ladakh

Now, under the banner of ‘Restructuring the Sixth Schedule to provide protection for the citizens and culture of Ladakh’, what large crisis has befallen there that the Government must immediately accede to this demand ? There are always avenues for long-term discussions about such demands. There was no need to take an extreme step for this. During their hunger strike, two people fell seriously ill and were admitted to a hospital, and later, the youth were incited to riot. The movement was compared to protests by youth in Nepal and Bangladesh. As a result, even without any real issue, the misconception spread internationally that in India, injustice is being done in Ladakh. Already the Jammu & Kashmir region is unstable; by creating disturbances in otherwise peaceful Ladakh, Wangchuk, who presents himself as an environmentalist, has attempted to create unrest there too. The Government has arrested him and taken appropriate action. Permission for foreign funding to his organisations has been revoked. Both the steps of the Government are good. An intensive investigation into his organisations is now under way; the details of the inquiry have not yet been disclosed. Even so, it is certain that Wangchuk has erred.

The duplicity of Sonam Wangchuk

In India, people get publicity by calling themselves environmentalists, socialists, progressives, scientific skeptics, pacifists, Gandhians, rationalists, and more. The term ‘social worker’ in fact lies discredited by these so-called socialists – whether it is Teesta Setalvad, Medha Patkar or others. The same is true of the so-called environmentalist Sonam Wangchuk. He became popular because of a character (of a scientist) an actor played in the Hindi film ‘3 Idiots’. On social media, he is found expounding ideas about environmental protection through videos; however, why have his activities not yet been scrutinized ?

What concealed sources of income has he used to run various ventures ? The public needs to know this.

On the seventh day of his hunger strike, Wangchuk delivered a strong statement. Referring to a local actor, Wangchuk said, “There is a famous comedian here who said, ‘When China comes here, the people of Ladakh will give their lives to stop them. Now if the Indian Govern-ment is not doing anything for us, the next time they come, we will show them the way”. To prevent this, he said the Government should meet his demands. What is this method for getting the demands fulfilled ? Wangchuk is instigating an enemy to attack India, and if it attacks, urging assistance ? This amounts to plain treason. He must be punished for this. This also demonstrates that he is a stooge of China, and for his own interests, he can go to any extent. From where did he get the guts to speak like this ? This did not happen overnight.

Available information indicates that Wangchuk’s Trust ‘Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, Ladakh’ had a total of seven bank accounts. He had declared only four. A total of Rs 21 crore was deposited into these bank accounts from domestic and foreign sources. Likewise, Wangchuk has a company, and from it’s bank account he transferred Rs 1.5 crore to his Trust. Besides this, although he had nine personal bank accounts, he had declared only one. His personal accounts have been receiving crores of Rupees from home and abroad since 2013. For what purpose were these foreign funds sent to Wangchuk ? This requires to be investigated.

Because of allegations of misuse of Government land by Wangchuk’s organisation, this land has also been taken away. Concealment of bank accounts, receiving large sums from abroad, misuse of Government land – are these not signs of duplicity ? The social workers and organisations that have been exposed so far work under the guise of eradicating faith; they follow a specific modus operandi – obtain crores in donations from abroad, conceal it from the Government, do not maintain accounts, use this money for anti-India, anti-Hindu activities and destabilise the Nation. This is their toolkit. Wangchuk must not be forgiven for his anti-National mindset. Samartha Ramdas Swami had said, ‘Traitors to the country must be punished’. This applies to such anti-National elements.

“Put down mercilessly those who carry tales and also those who rebel against you !” : Samartha Ramdas Swami

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