Eminent climate activist Sonam Wangchuk has been placed under a 60-day “house arrest” and barred from public rallies by the Leh additional district magistrate, invoking Section 163 of the BNSS.
The preventive action follows mounting protests by Ladakhi groups against the administration’s decision to hold the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) and local body elections on December 4.
Wangchuk, who was removed from a protest site prior to the order, posted on X that he was surrounded by dozens of armed guards for “asking uncomfortable questions,” such as querying the delay in the Judicial Enquiry Commission Report and the rushed scheduling of winter elections.
DAY 3 OF HOUSE ARREST
Is this really house arrest !?
My Experiment with law & disorder…! Our lawyers from Supreme Court asked us if it’s is really a house arrest of 60 days as I had claimed or just ‘an advice to stay at his residence’ as the DGP Ladakh tweeted. Since the order from the magistrate is vague so we went for a videographed experiment… Here is the result!
What’s your opinion! Should a good government in the world’s largest democracy twist laws to suit their whims…!
@rashtrapatibhvn @narendramodi @AmitShah @RahulGandhi— Sonam Wangchuk (@Wangchuk66) November 13, 2026
The administration’s decision to conduct the region’s first major electoral exercise since its 2019 bifurcation into a Union Territory has triggered stiff pushback. Political and civil society groups—including the Ladakh Buddhist Association, which announced a municipal poll boycott, and Kargil residents who observed a complete shutdown—argue that severe winter weather and seasonal migration will disenfranchise voters.
Defending the timeline, Chief Secretary Ashish Kundra asserted that the new councils must be constituted immediately to prepare upcoming budgets, adding that polling stations will feature heaters, separate queues for the elderly, and operational support.
The restructured polls encompass 100 constituencies across eight new district councils alongside local panchayat and municipal elections.
