Two days ago on 31 August, Ladakhi Climate activist and teacher Sonam Wangchuk posted a video on X, which confirmed that the local officials were targeting their Himalayan Institute of Alternative Teaching (HIL) by canceling the lease on the land allotted to the university seven years ago.

Describing the move as a sign of ‘Banana Republic’ rule, Wangchuk said that the Ladakh administration had notices that the government would show that the government would take back the land and demolish the premises built in five years. He questioned the time of this action, given that it did not happen in the last six years, but in October there was a coincidence with the upcoming Hill Council elections.

Wangchuk said, “Ladakh’s Hill Council promised the sixth schedule security measures in its last manifesto, but now they want to win the election without fulfilling that promise. I will not let this happen to the people of Ladakh,” Wangchuk said.

He alleged that from arrests to threats ranging from arrest to cancellation of land lease, and claimed that the authorities were now considering including the ED (Enforcement Directorate). Wangchuk welcomed an ED investigation, saying that it would highlight the work of eight years of the institute without salary and their personal financial contribution.

Wangchuk said that while Hial enjoys tax exemption, he himself pays income tax as a service for the nation. He also claimed that half a million rupees have been donated to the Ladakh UT government in its formation.

Climate activist attracted national attention with him Indefinite hunger strike In March 2024, when he began talks between leaders of Civil Society of Ladakh and Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) when he came to a dead end of constitutional security measures for Ladakh.

Putting the issue forward, he and hundreds of followers also marched a leg for Delhi, forcing MHA to resume Ladakh dialogue in December 2024, although they remain inconclusive.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday, while facing the move of activist Manoj Zerennge to call his five -day fast on the demand of Maratha quota, said the government got a solution in the interest of the Maratha community.

Speaking to reporters in Nagpur, Fadnavis said that his government always focuses on the welfare of the Maratha community.

Jarang, who started his hunger strike on August 29, closed the protest on Tuesday afternoon when the Maharashtra government accepted most of its demands, including giving certificates of eligible Maratha Kunbi caste, which would make them eligible for reservation benefits available to other backward classes (OBCs).

The 43-year-old activist accepted a glass of fruit juice introduced by senior BJP minister Radhakrishna Vicky Patil, who heads the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Maratha reservation at Azad Maidan in South Mumbai, who mark the end of their fast.