Leh, Oct. 26 -- The talks between the Union Home Ministry and Ladakh's representative bodies have stalled. Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who does not hold any elected office, has declared the process a failure.
Hours after the round of Ladakh talks planned for October 22 fell through, Sonam Wangchuk, in his post on social media, accused the Centre of betraying Ladakh. He told reporters in Delhi that the government was "reneging on every promise" and called the earlier round in Leh "a complete failure."
The dialogue with the Centre is formally between the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ladakh's representative bodies, the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and the Kargil Democratic Alliance. The fifth round was held in Leh on October 15. Both sides exchanged drafts and agreed to keep talking. LAB co-convenor Chering Dorjey said publicly that the government's draft was long, that it differed substantially from Ladakh's, and that his side needed time to respond.
Sources said it is normal for the negotiations to have different drafts, testing of positions and postponement which cannot be termed a betrayal, The people at the table, not commentators outside it, are the ones who decide whether the process has failed.
Sources said Wangchuk is neither a councillor of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), nor a Member of Parliament, and also not an office-bearer mandated to sign anything for Ladakh. Yet he keeps announcing outcomes, declaring rounds failures, and setting the public mood before the elected and nominated representatives have finished consulting their own people.
In 2015 his New Ladakh Movement (NLM) contested 17 constituencies in the LAHDC Leh elections and won none of them. He personally stood against the BJP's Lobzang Sherab in Khaltsi, and his vote share was low enough that he reportedly forfeited his deposit.
The NLM talked about youth-led governance, clean politics and systemic reform. Those are worthy goals, but the people of Ladakh did not accept him.
In September 2025, after an agitation which was followed by violence in Leh, in which four people died and public property, including a political party office, was set on fire, he was detained under the National Security Act and held for about six months, until the Centre revoked the detention in March 2026. The Union Home Ministry also cancelled the FCRA licence of SECMOL, the organisation he founded, citing financial irregularities.
Sources said Ladakh's aspirations are real, and the Centre should honour them through sustained, good-faith dialogue, meaning the dialogue should belong to the bodies Ladakh has actually authorised to conduct it. The LAB and KDA have said they will study the government's draft and respond. They should be given room to do that without a celebrity activist declaring failure on social media.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.