Activist Sonam Wangchuk has said he is the subject of a witch-hunt by the Ladakh Lieutenant Governor's office, which he accused of targeting him in a smear campaign for standing with the youth of the country and participating in protests.
"I am being continuously witch-hunted and defamed and our schools are being harassed in every possible way by the LG administration in Ladakh," said Wangchuk, who is a member of Leh Apex Body (LAB), a representative body of the people of Ladakh.
In a video message on Saturday to Indian President Droupadi Murmu, Wangchuk asked her to intervene, saying, "Madam President, for the last six years. We don't have rights like in the rest of the country or democracy."
In 2019, Ladakh lost the special status it shared with the former state of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 and became a separate Union Territory. The change meant that the Indian central government in New Delhi now directly governs the Himalayan region.
Since 2019, several political and civil society groups in Ladakh have been demanding greater autonomy and, in many cases, statehood.
Wangchuk said two social media pages, Ladakh Lens 1 and Ladakh Vision 1, surfaced on October 14 and that the former was allegedly created to defame him through "unfounded allegations," while the latter was aimed at "praising the Lieutenant Governor's work" in Ladakh.
The Ladakh administration has not responded to the allegations so far.
Wangchuk also accused the Ladakh administration of targeting institutes like his that have "earned national and international repute."
Earlier this month, the Ladakh administration directed the Himalayan Institute of Alternative Learning (HIAL), led by Wangchuk and his wife Gitanjali J. Angmo, to halt activities at its Phyang-based school until the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court issues further notice.
Wangchuk has questioned the approvals being demanded by the administration.