MHA Cancels FCRA Licence of Sonam Wangchuk’s SECMOL After Ladakh Violence

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Thursday revoked the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) licence of the Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL), founded by climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, with “immediate effect.”

The move came just a day after violent clashes in Leh during protests demanding statehood for Ladakh left four people dead and over 80 injured. The Centre has blamed Wangchuk for “provoking” unrest through remarks comparing the agitation to the Arab Spring and recent youth-led protests in Nepal.

Alleged financial violations

According to the MHA, the action followed multiple discrepancies in SECMOL’s accounts, including:

• A cash deposit of ₹3.5 lakh into its FCRA account in 2021–22, allegedly violating Section 17 of the Act.

• A ₹3.35 lakh contribution declared as a donation from Wangchuk himself, but not reflected in the FCRA account.

• A transfer of ₹54,600 from local funds into the FCRA account, which the group later termed a mistake.

• Receipt of around ₹4.93 lakh from Sweden to fund youth workshops on migration, climate change, food security and organic farming — which the ministry said was against “national interest,” as it involved sovereignty-related themes.

SECMOL argued that the proceeds from the sale of an old bus and foreign funding were used strictly for educational and cultural purposes, but the ministry rejected the explanation.

Wangchuk alleges ‘witch hunt’

Reacting to the cancellation, Sonam Wangchuk accused the government of targeting him for supporting the Ladakh movement.

“A day after the protests, the Home Ministry issued a press release naming me and blaming me… We never applied for FCRA because we don’t want foreign funds. Yet, we are being accused,” Wangchuk told ANI.

He added that SECMOL only received fees for providing technical knowledge to organisations in Afghanistan, Switzerland and Italy, including work on passive solar buildings and artificial glaciers.

“In the series of witch hunting, yesterday’s events were the last, and all blame was put on Sonam Wangchuk,” he said.