Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk has come under the Centre’s fire a day after violent clashes in the Leh valley over statehood demands left four dead and at least 80 injured, including 40 police personnel. The Ministry of Home Affairs has now cancelled the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act of Wangchuk’s NGO, Students Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL), saying it had violated the Act.
The NGO, an institute, had been registered under the FCRA, which allows bodies to receive foreign funds for educational and cultural programmes. A ‘Show Cause Notice’ had been issued to the NGO on August 20, 2025, followed by a reminder on September 10, asking it to explain why its licence should not be cancelled. The association responded on September 19.
Amongst the violations, the Ministry of Home Affairs has alleged that a deposit of ₹3.5 lakh made by Sonam during 2021-22 in the association’s FCRA account violated Section 17 of the Act.
The NGO had also received ₹4,93,205 from Swedish donor, Framtidsjorden, for educational programmes on issues including “migration, climate change, food security, and sovereignty.” The Ministry said a foreign contribution cannot be accepted for study on “sovereignty” of the nation and that it amounted to going against the national interest of the country in violation of section 12(4)(f)(ii) of the Act.
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Additionally, local funds amounting to ₹54,000 from three individuals that were deposited in the NGO’s account in the fiscal year 2020-21, and which the NGO admitted was an error by volunteers, was also deemed to be a violation of Section 17.
The NGO’s act of returning a volunteer’s money after her volunteering was cancelled due to the Covid-19 lockdown has also been termed a violation, arguing, “As such there is no provision in the Act for returning of FC to its donor. The act of the association is likely to be used for undesirable purpose.”
Furthermore, foreign contributions to the effect of ₹79,200 that were not credited in the FCRA bank account, but deducted from staff salaries as food fees indicates that “the account of the association is not well maintained”, said the ministry.
Citing violations under Sections 8(1)(a), 17, 18, 19, and conditions of registration under Section 12(4) of the Act, the Ministry exercised its powers under Section 14(1) to cancel the NGO's FCRA registration certificate with immediate effect.
“This issues with the approval of the Competent Authority,” the order concluded.
On Wednesday, the Centre had placed the blame for the attack on BJP’s office in Leh on Wagchuk, saying his “provocative” speeches and references to the Arab Spring and Nepal’s Gen Z protests had instigated the mob that set fire to the property.
Wangchuk dismissed the allegations on Thursday, calling it a “scapegoat tactic” to avoid addressing the region’s core issues.
“To say it 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,” he told a press agency, adding that he is prepared to face arrest under the Public Safety Act (PSA).
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