By Martin Shwenk Leade

Copyright indiatimes

PTISonam Wangchuk

The government on Thursday cancelled the FCRA license of activist Sonam Wangchuk-led Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh following the violent protest in the Union territory demanding statehood on Wednesday. Earlier, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had begun an inquiry into alleged violation of Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act against the institution.Wangchuk told PTI that a CBI team came with “an order” about 10 days ago, saying that they are acting on a complaint from the Ministry of Home Affairs regarding alleged Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) violations in the Himalayan Institute of Alternatives Ladakh (HIAL).”The order said we have not taken clearance under FCRA to receive foreign funds. We don’t want to be dependent on foreign funds, but we export our knowledge and raise revenue. In three such instances, they thought it was foreign contribution,” Wangchuk saod.He added that the CBI visited HIAL and the Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL) last week, seeking details of foreign funds received by them between 2022 and 2024.Live EventsWangchuk said that the complaints referred to agreements with taxes duly paid to the government. They pertained to India exporting knowledge to the United Nations, Swiss University and an Italian organisation, he added.”It was a very dignified assignment. They saw it and they were convinced. They understood it is not helping them, so they began asking for accounts outside that period. Their mandate was to check for accounts during 2022-24, but they started asking for accounts of 2021 and 2020. Then they went to our school asking for various documents outside their mandate period and a school outside the complaint’s purview,” Wangchuk alleged.Both these schools give free education to needy young students. In HIAL, students are paid stipend for their work on various projects. Wangchuk alleged that this was followed by the CBI action and income tax summons.”The funny part is, Ladakh is one place where there is no tax. Yet I voluntarily pay taxes, and I get summons. Then they resurrected a four-year-old complaint that labourers were not paid properly. It is guns blazing from all sides on us,” he alleged.Wangchuk had started a hunger strike on September 10, pressing for Ladakh’s inclusion in the Sixth schedule and for statehood.The region witnessed the worst violence since 1989 on Wednesday, when groups of youths indulged in arson and vandalism, targeting the BJP headquarters and the Hill Council, and set ablaze vehicles.Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now!
Police and paramilitary forces had to lob teargas shells to bring the situation under control, officials said.(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)

Read More News onCBI probing FCRA violationForeign Contribution (Regulation) ActHimalayan Institute of Alternatives LadakhSonam WangchukSECMOLCentral Bureau of InvestigationMinistry of Home AffairsHimalayan Institute of Alternatives Ladakh (HIAL)wangchukfcra

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(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)Read More News onCBI probing FCRA violationForeign Contribution (Regulation) ActHimalayan Institute of Alternatives LadakhSonam WangchukSECMOLCentral Bureau of InvestigationMinistry of Home AffairsHimalayan Institute of Alternatives Ladakh (HIAL)wangchukfcra(Catch all the Business News, Breaking News, Budget 2025 Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online….moreless

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