LEH: Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk has criticised the Ladakh administration over its notice asking the Himalayan Institute of Alternative Learning (HIAL) not to undertake any further activities at Desert Flower School in Phyang until the matter is decided by the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
In a post on X, Wangchuk described the notice as a “shahi farmaan” and wrote, “Close schools and open liquor bars”, questioning the administration’s decision. He also urged media organisations that had carried the press conference by the Lieutenant Governor’s administration to give space to his response, referring to India’s position on the Global Press Freedom Index.
THE LG LADAKH’s SHAHI FARMAAN ON OUR SCHOOL…
They want it closed.
There’s a lot of raita spread on internet/news about our school.
India’s Parliamentary Committee on Education recommended HIAL to be replicated all over India. Victoria & Albert Museum London has a permanent display on it. Time Magazine featured it’s projects in TIME 100 Climate solutions. And yet… They want it closed !We’re compelled to do an online Press Conference at 5.15 pm today.
Journalists are invited to join through the usual route…— Sonam Wangchuk (@Wangchuk66) November 4, 2026
“Let’s hope that the media houses that carried the presser from the LG Administration so eagerly will also be just and fair enough to carry our response too and prove to the nation that India is still not so poor on the Global Press Freedom Index,” he wrote.
Here’s our Press Conference on…
THE LG LADAKH’s SHAHI FARMAAN ON OUR SCHOOL…
CLOSE SCHOOLS & OPEN LIQUOR BARS
Let’s hope that the media houses that carried the presser from the LG Administration so eagerly will also be jaust and fair enough to carry our response too… and prove to the nation that India is still not so poor on the Global Press Freedom Index.
As I said earlier this evening…
” There’s a lot of raita spread on internet/news about our school.
India’s Parliamentary Committee on Education recommended HIAL to be replicated all over India. Victoria & Albert Museum London has a permanent display on it. Time Magazine featured it’s projects in TIME 100 Climate solutions. And yet… They want it closed ! “We’re compelled to do an online Press Conference at 5.15 pm today.
— Sonam Wangchuk (@Wangchuk66) November 4, 2026
Wangchuk further defended HIAL, saying that the institution’s work had received recognition from India’s Parliamentary Committee on Education, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and Time magazine.
“There’s a lot of raita spread on internet/news about our school. India’s Parliamentary Committee on Education recommended HIAL to be replicated all over India. Victoria & Albert Museum in London has a permanent display on it. Time Magazine featured its projects in TIME 100 Climate Solutions. And yet, they want it closed!” he said.
The Ladakh administration on Tuesday issued a notice to HIAL, co-founded by Sonam Wangchuk and Gitanjali J Angmo, asking it not to undertake any further activities at Desert Flower School in Phyang until the matter is decided by the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
In a notice issued by the Office of the Tehsildar, Leh, to HIAL Founder and CEO Gitanjali J Angmo, the administration said that classes and other activities were being started at Desert Flower School without obtaining proper consent, clearances or necessary approval from the concerned authorities.
The notice stated that Angmo had earlier written to the Deputy Commissioner, Leh, on September 22, seeking a No Objection Certificate (NOC) or clearance for the proposed members of the Managing Committee of Desert Flower School under the HIAL ecosystem. (ANI)
