The Union home ministry on Thursday cancelled the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act license of activist Sonam Wangchuk’s non-governmental organisation, The Indian Express reported.
This came a day after four persons were killed and more than 80 injured in police firing in Leh during a protest demanding statehood for Ladakh and its inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
The Union government had claimed on Wednesday that the violence was incited by Wangchuk’s “provocative statements”.
Registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act is mandatory for a non-profit organisation to receive foreign funds.
The Central Bureau of Investigation had, two months ago, initiated a preliminary inquiry into alleged violations of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act by Students Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh, a non-governmental organisation run by Wangchuk.
A government order signed by the home ministry’s Deputy Secretary Rajesh Kumar T said the decision to cancel the licence was taken “considering the facts and position narrated by the organisation”, The Indian Express reported.
The non-governmental organisation had been served a show cause notice on August 20 and a letter on September 10, asking why its registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act should not be cancelled, the newspaper quoted the order as saying.
Several violations were found after the organisation’s response to the letter on September 20 was examined, the government alleged.
The home ministry alleged in its order that Wangchuk had deposited Rs 3.5 lakh in the FCRA account of the organisation in violation of Section 17 of the Act during the financial year 2021-’22.
Section 17 of the Act mandates that entities receiving foreign contributions must deposit the funds in a designated FCRA Account within a specified bank branch. The account must be used exclusively for foreign contributions.
In response to the allegations, the organisation said that it had deposited Rs 3.3 lakh in the account as it was the proceeds from the sale of an old bus that had been bought using the FCRA funds, according to the newspaper.
The home ministry disagreed with the reply. “It seems that the amount has been received in cash in violation of section 17 of the Act, which is not properly disclosed by the association in its reply,” The Indian Express quoted the ministry as having alleged.
The Rs 3.3 lakh transaction does not reflect in the FCRA account, which violates another section of the Act, the order was quoted as having alleged.
The order noted another alleged violation in 2020-’21. Wangchuk’s organisation said that in this case, the funds had been received from volunteers for food and accommodation, but were mistakenly transferred to the FCRA account instead of the regular account.
The home ministry also said that the organisation had received Rs 4.9 lakh from foreign donors in violation of Section 12(4) of the Act as per the accounts for 2021-’22, according to the newspaper. The section pertains to eligibility to receive foreign funding.
Wangchuk’s non-governmental organisation said that the donation was for youth awareness.
But the ministry alleged that the topics meant to be studied, as per the NGO’s response, were on the “sovereignty of the country”, which violated the provisions of the Act, The Indian Express reported.
Between 2016-’17 and 2021-’22, over 6,600 NGOs lost their FCRA licences, the government had told Parliament in December 2022. In 2023, it informed Parliament that 13,520 registered non-profit organisations had received Rs 55,741.5 crore in foreign contributions between 2019-’20 and 2021-’22.
Wangchuk says blaming him a ‘scapegoat tactic’
Demands for constitutional safeguards in Ladakh have intensified over the years since it was carved out as a Union Territory in 2019.
On Wednesday, demonstrators clashed with and threw stones at the police, and set fire to the Bharatiya Janata Party office and a police vehicle.
On Thursday, more than 50 persons were detained and a curfew was imposed in Leh.
Responding to the government’s claim that he had incited the violence, Wangchuk told PTI on Thursday that his imprisonment could create more problems for the Centre. He said that the ministry’s act of blaming him was a “scapegoat tactic”.
On August 5, 2019, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government abrogated the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution and bifurcated the state into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
This, along with the lack of a legislature in Ladakh, has led to increasing insecurities among the residents of the Union Territory about their land, nature, resources and livelihoods and stoked fears that the region’s cultural identity and fragile ecosystem may be in jeopardy.
In this backdrop, civil society groups have been demanding that Ladakh be included in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution so that its identity can be protected.
The inclusion of Ladakh in the Sixth Schedule would allow for the creation of autonomous development councils to govern land, public health and agriculture.
Wangchuk had on September 10 started a 35-day hunger strike to push for the demands, which he ended after the violence on Wednesday. He has held several protests demanding constitutional safeguards for Ladakh, including a 21-day hunger strike ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Also read:
- Ladakh violence: How government inaction on its promises on autonomy has fuelled frustration
- Why is the Centre dragging its feet on autonomy for Ladakh?
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