'Phunsukh Wangdu', the protagonist of the cult 2009 film
3 Idiots, famously navigated challenges with the mantra “All izz well.” In real life, his supposed cinematic inspiration, Ladakhi innovator and activist
Sonam Wangchuk, is now at the center of a storm that has tested his own “All izz well” moment. The Ladakh Police arrested Wangchuk on Friday under the stringent National Security Act, two days after the Union Territory witnessed its worst violence in decades. Protests over statehood and Sixth Schedule safeguards escalated into clashes, leaving four dead and more than 80 injured. Mobile internet services were suspended in Leh as a precautionary measure.
The Union Home Ministry on Thursday revoked the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) licence of Wangchuk’s NGO, citing alleged violations including fund diversion and undeclared accounts. Wangchuk denied wrongdoing, claiming the government was building a case to silence him. Central agencies, including the CBI and income tax authorities, are now probing the alleged financial irregularities linked to his organisations.
His journey from a homeschooled Ladakhi boy to an engineer and innovator provides context to understanding how he became a prominent activist in the region.
Early life and education
Born in 1966 near Alchi in Ladakh, Wangchuk did not attend school until the age of nine, as there were no local institutions. His mother taught him foundational skills in his mother tongue. After his father’s election to the Jammu and Kashmir government in 1975, Wangchuk moved to Srinagar, where he faced linguistic and cultural barriers that initially hindered his academic progress. At nine, he moved to Delhi to continue his education at Vishesh Kendriya Vidyalaya.
Wangchuk completed his B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from the National Institute of Technology (then REC) Srinagar in 1987. Later, he pursued higher studies in Earthen Architecture at the Craterre School of Architecture in Grenoble, France, reflecting his early interest in sustainable and context-specific solutions.
Career in education and innovation
In 1988, Wangchuk co-founded the Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL) with a group of students. The organisation sought to reform Ladakh’s education system, which Wangchuk and his peers considered alien and ineffective. SECMOL’s initiatives included Operation New Hope in 1994, a collaborative effort between government, communities, and civil society to improve local government schools.
Wangchuk also designed the SECMOL campus to run entirely on solar energy and without fossil fuels for cooking, heating, or lighting, demonstrating a practical approach to sustainable education. He served as editor of Ladakh’s only print magazine,
Ladags Melong, from 1993 to 2005 and contributed to the drafting of Ladakh Hill Council Government’s Vision Document,
Ladakh 2025, which outlined policies on education and tourism.
From 2007 to 2010, he advised international NGOs on education reform and participated in state-level education policy initiatives in Jammu and Kashmir. In 2013, he introduced the Ice Stupa technique: artificial glaciers designed to store winter water and release it during spring, providing a practical solution to water scarcity in Ladakh.
Wangchuk later founded the Himalayan Institute of Alternatives Ladakh (HIAL) and launched FarmStays Ladakh, a project promoting community-based tourism run by local families. Through these initiatives, he has sought to address both educational and socio-economic challenges in the region.
From engineering to activism
While Wangchuk’s technical education provided the foundation for his innovations, his activism grew in response to the political and social realities of Ladakh. He first emerged as a public voice after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, warning of resource exploitation and demanding safeguards under the Sixth Schedule. Over the years, his campaigns, including multiple hunger strikes, have combined climate activism with political advocacy, reflecting a transition from education reform to broader regional activism.
The current arrest under the NSA, and the ongoing investigation into his organisations’ finances, mark a new chapter in Wangchuk’s career. Yet, his trajectory, from a homeschooled child in a remote village to an engineer, innovator, and activist, remains intertwined with Ladakh’s evolving political and social landscape.
(with PTI inputs)
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