As the plea challenging climate activist Sonam Wangchuk’s detention under the National Security Act (NSA) is pushed to January 7 – by when he would have been in jail for three-and-a-half months – members of a parliamentary panel that recently submitted a report calling the work done by his Ladakh institute as “exemplary” have expressed regret over his arrest.
Several members of the Standing Committee on Education, Women, Youth and Sports had visited the Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, Ladakh (HIAL) in July – as part of a review of autonomous bodies under the Department of Higher Education. The panel, whose 31 members belong to both the ruling and Opposition parties and is headed by Congress Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh, recommended that HIAL be granted University Grants Commission (UGC) recognition.
Wangchuk was arrested two months later. One of the places visited by the House panel in Ladakh was the Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL). Before his arrest, the Ministry of Home Affairs cancelled its FCRA licence.
In its report, submitted in Parliament on December 8, the Standing Committee said it was “impressed with the academic, research and entrepreneurship ecosystem” at HIAL, and especially commended “its success in implementing experiential education and learning rooted in local socio-cultural and ecological contexts”. It also acknowledged that “HIAL has achieved tremendous impact on the local community”.
Digvijaya Singh told The Indian Express he was intrigued by Wangchuk’s work and hence thought it would be a good idea for the Standing Committee to witness it in person. “This is the reward he got!” Singh said, referring to Wangchuk’s arrest.
“He (Wangchuk) is impartial, he is not partisan at all. Mr Narendra Modi should be very grateful to him because he has virtually implemented the NEP 2020 in letter and spirit,” Singh said, referring to the National Educational Policy brought in by the Modi government, which stresses on experiential learning and innovation in education.
The senior Congress leader mentioned Wangchuk’s initiatives such as a school for students who have failed to clear Classes 10 and 12, and the building of ice stupas to address the cold desert region’s water scarcity issues. “Sonam is one person who has really acted on Narendra Modi’s ‘think globally and act locally’ message. Why have run-of-the-mill education?… Why has he been arrested? What has he done?” Singh said.
Amar Kale, the NCP (SP) MP from Wardha, Maharashtra, who visited HIAL as part of the Standing Committee, told The Indian Express it was “a very good experience”. He also referred to the work done with students who have failed to clear Classes 10 or 12, “where teachers help them progress based on their talents”, apart from HIAL initiatives in farming, sports and water preservation. “They have learnt how to work with the (harsh) weather… Bahut hi badhiya kaam tha unka (They are doing very good work),” Kale said.
The MP said they were shown around the premises, including SEMCOL, and explained about their work by Wangchuk and his wife and HIAL co-founder Gitanjali Angmo, who is leading the legal fight for the activist’s release.
“Galat laga jab unka arrest hua (It felt bad when he was arrested)… A man doing such good work being put behind bars…,” Kale said.
A Rajya Sabha member and BJP MP who was part of the group that visited HIAL and did not want to be named also called the institute “a good initiative”.
“They help students who have failed; help them build confidence. Sonam Wangchuk ke jo rajnaitik vichar hain, unse humari koi sahmati nahin hain (We don’t agree with Wangchuk’s political views), but his work in the field of education, alternative education, learning in the natural environment… the effort is good.”
The two MPs said they also visited a couple of other institutions in Ladakh to understand the education system, and met the Dalai Lama.
In its report, the Standing Committee said it was “concerned” that the UGC was yet to grant recognition to HIAL, and that the matter had been pending for years. Recommending that this be granted, the panel noted that HIAL’s work was “exemplary in its implementation of the NEP 2020, which calls for such experiential and project-based learning, community engagement, and integration of Indian Knowledge Systems”.
“Moreover, the Committee encourages the UGC and the Department to closely study the HIAL model and consider how it can be replicated elsewhere,” the report said.
Singh dubbed the UGC’s delay in granting recognition to HIAL “negative and partial”. “I condemn the UGC, and condemn the action taken by the government.”
Angmo told The Indian Express they first applied to the UGC for recognition in 2021. “Then in 2022, they (the UGC) recommended that we apply under the ‘distinct’ category… But we have just been waiting.” Institutions involved in study and research in unique and emerging areas of knowledge, can apply under ‘distinct’ category for ‘deemed-to-be-university’ status.
A UGC recognition would allow HIAL to offer undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and award degrees, instead of only fellowships like it does currently.
Angmo said: “A lot of our students come to become entrepreneurs, and they are not interested in a degree or certificate… But we lose about 40%-50% of students because some of them also want a degree.”
Currently HIAL offers 11-month fellowships, and had close to 100 students earlier this year. Angmo said: “The pedagogy is that students learn by doing. Construction of the institution is also a part of the teaching-learning process… The architectural students… the first cohort built the first set of buildings.”
In March 2023, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan met Wangchuk and Angmo, and tweeted a photo with them, saying: “Appreciate their passion, thoughts and drive for transforming education, encouraging experiential learning, developing culture of innovation and sustainable development.”
A month after that, Wangchuk and Angmo were part of an online lecture series by the UGC, on reimagining higher education for the 21st century. Then UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar gave an introduction to the lecture.
Wangchuk was arrested on September 26 from Leh, and the NSA imposed on him, after the Union Territory administration accused him of instigating the violent protests days earlier demanding statehood for Ladakh and inclusion under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
