- Sonam Wangchuk, who inspired Aamir Khan's character in 3 Idiots, won the 2018 Ramon Magsaysay Award
- He co-founded SECMOL to reform education in Ladakh with activity-based and culture-relevant learning
- Wangchuk conceived the Ice Stupa project to help Ladakhi farmers with artificial glaciers
Shortly after the success of the Bollywood movie '3 Idiots' in 2009, the name of a Ladakh innovator started doing the rounds. Sonam Wangchuk was seen as the inspiration behind the character of Phunshukh Wangdu, a creative genius played by Aamir Khan. In 2018, Mr Wangchuk received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for his "uniquely systematic, collaborative and community-driven reform of learning systems" in a remote area.
This celebrated figure is now at the centre of the unrest in Ladakh that left four people dead and nearly a 100 injured yesterday. The Centre has accused Mr Wangchuk of inciting the mob that clashed with the cops and set fire to buildings in Leh yesterday. Also, the Central Bureau of Investigation is investigating an alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act against the Himalayan Institute of Alternative Learning, co-founded by Mr Wangchuk. Earlier, the Ladakh administration cancelled the land allotment to the institute. Also under the lens is Mr Wangchuk's Pakistan trip earlier this year, sources have said.
Mr Wangchuk has told news agency PTI that he is prepared to be arrested under the stringent Public Safety Act. "I see they are building up a case to bring me under the Public Safety Act and throw me in jail for two years," he said, adding, "I am ready for that, but Sonam Wangchuk in jail may cause them more problems than free Sonam Wangchuk."
"To say it (the violence) 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. 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," he said.
The Beginning
Fifty-nine-year-old Sonam Wangchuk was born at Uleytokpo village near Leh. According to reports, he was home-schooled till the age of nine because there were no schools in his village. In 1975, Mr Wangchuk's father, Sonam Wangyal, became a minister in the Jammu and Kashmir government, and the family moved to Srinagar. Sonam Wangchuk was enrolled in a Srinagar school, where lessons were taught in English, Hindi, and Urdu -- the boy understood none.
In later interviews, Mr Wangchuk has recalled that teachers often kept him out of the classroom and he felt humiliated. "In Srinagar, I was a dumb boy from Ladakh who could not speak Hindi or English. I was insulted, and I had no desire but to commit suicide," he told The Week in an interview.
Three years later, a 12-year-old Sonam Wangchuk boarded a train to Delhi, alone, because he didn't want to study in Srinagar. He pleaded with the principal of Vishesh Kendriya Vidyalaya in Delhi and got admission. He would return to Srinagar later to study engineering at the Regional Engineering College, now NIT Srinagar.
SECMOL And Innovations
In 1988, fresh out of college, Sonam Wangchuk teamed up with his brothers and five others to set up the Students' Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh, or SECMOL. They organised a cultural show to raise funds. In the years that followed, SECMOL trained teachers to make their lessons activity-based and engaging for children. "Teaching and learning have to be a joy," he said.
"To create lasting impact, SECMOL partnered with the local government in a joint program of educational reform. Piloted in a village school, the program involved training teachers in a 'creative, child-friendly, and activity-based" education; introducing curricular changes to make subjects relevant to the Ladakhi culture and context; prioritizing English over Urdu to better prepare students for higher education; and promoting the Ladakhi language," says Mr Wangchuk's Ramon Magsaysay award citation. SECMOL's Operation New Hope, in collaboration with the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, proved to be a game-changer for Ladakhi students.
SECMOL also won the International Terra Award for the best building in 2016 for its earthen construction. The building uses solar technology, relying on the year-round sunlight the area receives.
Mr Wangchuk is also credited with conceiving the Ice Stupa, an artificial glacier project to address the water crisis faced by Ladakhi farmers.
The Statehood Protest
In 2019, the Centre revoked Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370 and bifurcated the state into two Union Territories, Ladakh being one. At the time, key voices from Ladakh welcomed the move, but in the years that followed, discontent against the local administration brewed.
In 2023, Wangchuk announced a fast at Khardungla Pass to highlight the effects of climate change on Ladakh's fragile ecosystem, and to demand that the Union Territory be provided safeguards under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. The authorities prevented the fast and put him under house arrest. In March last year, he held a fast, demanding constitutional safeguards for the Union Territory. Last September, he marched from Ladakh to Delhi to press for his demand.
On September 10, Mr Wangchuk began another 35-day fast to press the statehood demand. Yesterday, after the protest turned violent, he called off his fast and said his "message of peaceful path failed". "On the 15th day of our strike, I am pained to say that several incidents of violence, arson and vandalism took place in Leh today. Two people on strike had to be hospitalised yesterday. This sparked outrage. A bandh was announced today, and thousands of youngsters hit the streets," he said in a video message on X.
Mr Wangchuk said the youth's outburst today was a "kind of Gen-Z revolution". "They have been jobless for five years. This is a recipe for social unrest. There is no democratic platform here," he said.
"I appeal to the youngsters to shun the path of violence. This nullifies my five-year struggle. We have been holding strikes, marches, and violence is not our path," he added.
Centre's Strong Words For Sonam Wangchuk
In a strong statement after the unrest in Ladakh, the Ministry of Home Affairs said, "It is clear that the mob was incited by Shri Sonam Wangchuk through his provocative statements. Incidentally, amidst these violent developments, he broke his fast and left for his village in an ambulance without making serious efforts to control the situation."
Multiple reports today said the CBI has been probing the Himalayan Institute of Alternative Learning for the past two months. The reports, attributed to sources, said no case had been registered yet.
The Ladakh administration, while cancelling HIAL's land allotment, had said the land was not being used for the purpose for which it was allotted.
Earlier, Mr Wangchuk had said the land was allotted in 2018, and now the administration says it is not serving its purpose. He had also alleged a "design" in the cancellation of the lease.
