Gijtanjali Angmo dismisses Ladakh’s objections to Wangchuk’s school: ‘This is witch-hunt’

The dispute centers on whether Desert Flower School could begin classes and activities before the land lease was formally completed. The administration told HIAL to maintain the status quo and objected that the school lacked proper consent, clearances, and approvals. It also said the lease case was sub judice.

Angmo rejected those objections. She said HIAL had sent five letters, visited offices, and made repeated calls, but the administration’s lease policy was still unfinished. She said officials had provided a no-objection assurance allowing construction to continue. HIAL then built the school, funded by Public Sector Undertakings, after compliance checks.

The school began kindergarten classes on November 2, with students already enrolled. Angmo argued that objections should have been raised earlier, before classes started. She said the administration’s actions amounted to a witch-hunt against HIAL, while HIAL maintains that its activities can continue until the court resolves the lease dispute.

The Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, Ladakh, or HIAL, is the organisation developing and operating the Desert Flower School. The article identifies it as an institute with several ventures and describes the school as HIAL’s fifth venture. HIAL also brought the land-lease dispute before the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court.

Desert Flower School is HIAL’s latest project. Construction began in 2023 and was funded by Public Sector Undertakings, which Angmo said had checked the project’s compliances before providing support. The school began kindergarten classes on November 2, after teachers were hired and students enrolled.

Its central feature is its not-for-profit structure. Sonam Wangchuk said the school was created because several parents wanted this kind of institution in Ladakh. The project therefore combines a school launch with HIAL’s broader educational work, although its continued operation remains tied to the unresolved land-lease dispute.

The dispute concerns the formal transfer and execution of a lease deed for the land used by Desert Flower School. The administration says the lease matter is sub judice and that HIAL began classes and activities without proper consent, clearances, or necessary approvals. In October, the Leh Deputy Commissioner also told the court that the proposed lease was conditional.

According to the administration, HIAL failed to satisfy those conditions, including payment of premium ground rent. Wangchuk and Angmo reject that account. They say HIAL repeatedly contacted officials, but the administration’s policy for executing the lease was not ready. They also cite assurances from the Deputy Commissioner’s office and the Assistant Commissioner Revenue that construction could continue with a no-objection certificate.

HIAL says construction began after those assurances. It later approached the High Court when the remaining issues were not resolved. The central conflict is therefore whether HIAL failed to comply, or whether administrative delay prevented completion of the lease.

The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court gave HIAL interim protection while the land-lease dispute continues. On September 11, the court told the Union Territory administration that it could not create third-party rights on the land. This prevented the administration from granting competing interests in the disputed property during the case.

Angmo said the court also indicated that HIAL could continue its activities until the dispute was resolved. Her account came after HIAL filed a petition when the remaining lease issues were not settled. The court’s position, as described in the article, concerns the disputed land and HIAL’s ongoing activities rather than a final decision on ownership or the lease.

The school nevertheless received a later administrative notice advising it to maintain status quo. HIAL says that notice conflicts with the court’s direction to continue. The practical situation therefore remains contested: classes have begun, but the lease and approval questions still await resolution through the court process.

The article does not specify the consequences for Desert Flower School or its students if administrative objections stop classes or construction. It reports no closure order, relocation plan, refund process, or arrangement for enrolled children. Any definite claim about those outcomes would go beyond the information provided.

What is clear is that kindergarten classes began on November 2, teachers had been hired, and students had enrolled. Wangchuk questioned why the administration raised objections after classes started rather than before the school opened. Angmo also said the school would continue to function despite the administration’s advice to maintain status quo.

The immediate future depends on the unresolved lease and approval dispute. The article says HIAL can continue activities under the High Court’s position while the case remains pending, but it does not explain how a contrary administrative action would affect students. The text therefore supports uncertainty, not a predicted outcome.

HIAL has established five ventures, and Desert Flower School is its latest. The number matters because the school is presented as part of HIAL’s continuing work rather than as a one-off project. The article does not name or describe the other four ventures, so their subjects and locations cannot be identified from the text.

Desert Flower School is distinctive because it is intended to function as a not-for-profit entity. Sonam Wangchuk said several parents wanted a school like this in Ladakh. Construction began in 2023, and Public Sector Undertakings funded the project after checking its compliances, according to Angmo.

The school began kindergarten classes on November 2. Teachers had been hired earlier, and students were enrolled when the administration raised objections. Its not-for-profit model and parent-driven origins remain central features, while its future operation depends on the unresolved land-lease and approval dispute.

A lease deed is a legal agreement in which a landowner grants another party the right to use land for a stated period and under stated conditions. For public land, those conditions commonly set the permitted use, payments, construction obligations, compliance duties, and approval requirements. This helps define what the project may do and protects public control of the property.

In this case, the administration said the proposed lease was conditional and that HIAL had not met requirements, including payment of premium ground rent. It also objected that the school began activities without proper consent, clearances, or necessary approvals. These mechanisms are meant to ensure that public land is used lawfully and that financial and regulatory obligations are completed.

HIAL disputes that explanation. Angmo said the administration’s lease policy was incomplete and that officials had allowed construction to continue. The article does not resolve whether every condition was satisfied; that question remains before the court.