Sonam Wangchuk

HAPPY DIWALI TO ALL... The festival of light, symbolising victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance From children at Desert Flower School, HIAL

STING OPERATION AGAINST THE WITCH-HUNT OPERATIONS OF LG LADAKH... For raising my voice for the youth of the nation and the well-being of border areas like Ladakh & Arunachal, I'm being continuously witch-hunted and defamed & our schools being harrassed in every possible way by the LG Administration in Ladakh. But this Sting Operation by our lawyers establishes that the LG Administration is directly involved in illegal smear campaigns (& much more). Much more has come to us from the Raj-Niwas/ Lok-Niwas but we're releasing just some excepts for now. I tried v much to avoid this, thinking it may damage the nation's dignity & morale & hence I first shared the material with the Chief of IB for Intervention, but unfortunately after few exchanges he too stopped responding... So with a heavy heart I am sharing this with the nation as we must stop the LG from playing like an infant in the ecologically & strategically sensitive border regions of India. @rashtrapatibhvn @PMOIndia @narendramodi @AmitShah @RahulGandhi

Here's our Press Conference on... THE LG LADAKH's SHAHI FARMAAN ON OUR SCHOOL... CLOSE SCHOOLS & OPEN LIQUOR BARS Let's hope that the media houses that carried the presser from the LG Administration so eagerly will also be jaust and fair enough to carry our response too... and prove to the nation that India is still not so poor on the Global Press Freedom Index. As I said earlier this evening... " There's a lot of raita spread on internet/news about our school. India's Parliamentary Committee on Education recommended HIAL to be replicated all over India. Victoria & Albert Museum London has a permanent display on it. Time Magazine featured it's projects in TIME 100 Climate solutions. And yet... They want it closed ! " We're compelled to do an online Press Conference at 5.15 pm today.

THE LG LADAKH's SHAHI FARMAAN ON OUR SCHOOL... They want it closed. There's a lot of raita spread on internet/news about our school. India's Parliamentary Committee on Education recommended HIAL to be replicated all over India. Victoria & Albert Museum London has a permanent display on it. Time Magazine featured it's projects in TIME 100 Climate solutions. And yet... They want it closed ! We're compelled to do an online Press Conference at 5.15 pm today. Journalists are invited to join through the usual route...

Ladakh stands with Arunachal Pradesh. #ArunachalPradesh @rashtrapatibhvn

EACH ONE MUST GO TO JAIL ONCE IN LIFE, NOT FOR A CRIME BUT FOR A CAUSE... ' Sir what's your opinion on signing peace bond ? Will you sign one if you were forced to!? ' This is what several journalists asked me during my recent trip to Delhi & Mumbai. Well I've been through this station four years ago when I started protesting against the government backtracking on their electoral promises... to grant 6th Schedule safeguards to Ladakh. I was put under an undeclared house arrest and was threatened with a longer jail term... Here's what I said in a video message to then Leutenant Governor through my podcast. The officer carrying the bond paper never returned... My advice to all young people... Hence my advice... EACH ONE MUST GO TO JAIL ONCE IN LIFE, NOT FOR A CRIME BUT FOR A CAUSE

LADAKH WOMEN LEADERS SUSPEND THEIR PROTEST AGAINST LIQUOR After UT Administration agreed to all demands and requested for a week to finalise the agreement. Let's hope that their trust & faith in the system will be respected. @narendramodi @PMOIndia @AmitShah @AmitShahOffice

SONAM WANGCHUK RESPONDs TO LADKH LG's ACCUSATIONS LG Ladakh's Administration has finally rolled back it's infamous liquor policy, after repeated protests from civil society & a week-long dharna sit-in by mother's groups. However in a face saving bid the LG Administration has once again not spared blaming Sonam Wangchuk. In a Press Release with veiled threats & accusations it asks me to desist from lies & rumour mongering. I can only say... If it was all lies & rumours why would 100s of mothers leave their children & homes and spend 6 nights in sub zero temperatures... Playing with words between 'liquor shop' & 'bar', they say there's only one liquor shop in Ladakh now, without saying that behind the withdrawal of liquor shops they used the celebrative environment of HH Dalai Lama's Ladakh visit to sneak in many alcohol bars which reached 50 in number (highest in Ladakh's history) The funny thing is that the administration's Press release was out around noon and most news papers carried it eagerly. Republic TV even made a feature on it. Now let's see how many carry my response and the visuals of mothers of Ladakh crying to save their children from alcohol. @narendramodi @PMOIndia @AmitShah @AmitShahOffice

THE BATTLE CONTINUES IN LADAKH... Protesting mothers in Ladakh continued their dharna sit-in for the 6th day today and even stopped traffic for a short while on NH1. They're protesting against the whimsical policies of Leutinant Governor of #Ladakh, like fighting drugs with alcohol shops & bars... Let's please help their voices reach the media houses... @narendramodi @PMOIndia @AmitShahOffice

DISPUTES ON THE LADAKH BORDER Unlike in Arunachal Pradesh in Ladakh it's not with China. It's with Ladakh's own LG VK Saxena ji who is constantly firing alcohol cannons to... 'fight drug abuse in Ladakh'. Mothers & Women's Alliances are protesting now for the 6th day against the forcible opening of bars in villages, homestays & guesthouses & near schools & temples. Unfortunately very few media houses are covering this crisis in Ladakh. People fail to understand why they're pushing alcohol in Ladakh while making Gujarat a dry state.

Whenever I raise my voice about injustices in Ladakh the government media machinery gets activated to target me & our institute HIAL’s land lease. Please take the message, don’t kill the messenger. A quick look at this letter shows their own delays if not incompetence. In all, 5 written appeals, 15 visits & 30 calls were made appealing for timely execution of land lease. Please help me by sharing this with all media houses that covered the issue. #Ladakh #HIAL #SonamWangchuk

FORMER FINANCE MINISTER ON STATEHOOD FOR LADAKH We were always told by home Ministry that Ladakh didn't have the resources to run a state or even a UT with legislature. Met Yashwant Sinha ji today who was finance minister of india 3 times, last in Vajpey ji's government till 2002. And before that an IAS officer in Bihar cadre... @narendramodi @AmitShah @PMOIndia – at Delhi, India

I’ll be at Ladakh Bhavan Delhi for talks with Home Ministry today but…

Calling young enthusiasts & engineers in Himalayan states & countries to join us find solutions to deal with climate change induced droughts & flash floods. Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, Ladakh ( HIAl) starts it's Winter Fellowship mid November. Please help our message reach Himalayan youth by sharing this with your friends & social media groups there... #HIAL #Ladakh #Himalayas #IceStupa #GLOF

Humein toh apno ne loota, gairon mein kahan dum tha हमें तो अपनों ने लूटा, गैरों में कहाँ दम था; मेरी कश्ती वहाँ डूबी, जहाँ पानी कम था Ladakh Talks with Home Ministry fail even as China refuses to recognise Ladakh UT... #Ladakh #Democracy

INDIA IN A STATE OF UNDECLARED EMERGENCY... Yesterday when I posted a message appealing for unity & peace in today's protest I had never imagined that the biggest democracy in the world would be under an undeclared EMERGENCY. I was happy there were so many leaders to lead the movement, but I now learn that they have all been arrested. I hope those arrested will be released soon. I will be compelled to consider an Anshan Fast or Padyatra March if they are not released by tomorrow. #JantarMantar #protest #CJP #CEC #sonamwangchuk

WHY I WON'T BE ABLE TO JOIN YOU ALL IN DELHI...! Despite all efforts of the government to hinder & damage our work we continue to work for national security... making preparations as another winter comes. This includes making artificial glaciers for water security & experiments for GLOF or glacial lake flood security... to difuse the 200+ ticking water bombs in high Himalayas. Adapting Faiz Sahab's words I would say... Aur Bhi Gham Hain Zamaane Main Siyaast Ke Siva... Rahaten aur bhi hain wasl ki raahat ke siva. Hence I send my bestest wishes to all & urge the leaders of different groups to stay united & show statesmanship, meanwhile I urge all the genZ friends to once again stay absolutely peaceful at all costs. This was the gift of Baapu that I tried to bring to Jantar Mantar in June, I hope we won't let Baapu down. #JantarMantar #protest #CJP #CEC #sonamwangchuk

A HEART TO HEART CHAT WITH THE NATION... Not just a Press Release. One year after my first morning in Jodhpur Central Jail where I was kept in total isolation for six months under the draconian NSA, I have more questions than I had before. Unfortunately there was a media blackout on Ladakh 3 days ago when I voiced these questions from Leh as Ladakh observed Martyrs Day in memory for those who lost their lives last year on the same day. Here are some of those questions I asked from Delhi today. I'm sure the NATION WANTS TO KNOW TOO... #Ladakh #JusticeForLadakh #AmitShahMustResign #NeetPaperLeak

HAPPY TO BE AMONG People I love… Young People, Doing what I love… ‘Informal discussion‘ … At St Stephen’s College Delhi