Rightwing, TV channels worked together to claim Wangchuk made inflammatory speeches

India: Rightwing Hindutva factions and the TV channels batting for them in the country worked together against Sonam Wangchuk to portray him as a separatist who makes inciting speeches to mobilise youth in Ladakh for violence, Alt News reported.

According to Alt News, the widely shared video of Wangchuk delivering a speech on September 10 is a clipped video shared by rightwing factions with the intention to spread a false claim that the environment activist talked about bringing change in Ladakh through violence, like in Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

In its Fact Check report, Alt News states that it ran a reverse image search with key frames from the clipped video and found a video running 34:53 minutes and was uploaded by a YouTube channel named Ladakh People’s Voice on September 10. The viral clipped portion comes at 15:20 minutes of this original video, where Wangchuk mentions Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

When RSS and the related rightwing teams, along with certain TV channels, claim that Wangchuk urged Ladakhis to choose violence like those in the aforementioned neighbouring nations, the reality was that he was urging the locals not to follow the violent path of protesters in the said nations.

Alt News sought the help of a Ladakhi journalist to help with the translation of Wangchuk’s speech in the original video, which was in Ladakhi, to establish that he was not calling for any violence. Also, Alt News cited an Instagram post by Climate Front of India, which refuted the claim that Wangchuk encouraged violence. The organisation, based in Jammu, posted a video of Wangvhuk’s September 10 speech with English subtitles.

In the video, Wanchuk actually says, “I believe that unlike them with all that violence, turmoil and stone-pelting, Ladakh will bring a peaceful change, a peaceful revolution, in which we ourselves die of starvation (hunger strike) so that the change becomes inevitable. That would be our difference from those other countries. For all other countries, Ladakh will become an example that you don’t have to burn or die from a bullet.”

After the clipped video of Wangchuk hit social media, Zee News played it, claiming that he wanted Ladakhis to bring change there like it happened in Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. To sensationalise the claim, the Zee News anchor asked, “Will you compare India with what happened in Nepal, what happened in Bangladesh, what happened in Sri Lanka?”

Republic World, which is known for its pro-BJP stand, played the video and asserted that Wangchuk called for a mass movement in Ladakh on the lines of Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. News18’s anchor Aman Chopra also played the video and claimed that Wangchuk made inflammatory remarks, citing the violence in the three neighbouring nations, before the Ladakh violence. Chopra also made a false claim that a masked man in the footage of the September 24 violence was a Congress councillor. Alt News had fact-checked the claim earlier.

Following the thread, BJP IT cell chief Amit Malaviya claimed that Wangchuk said in his speech about turning India into a Nepal or Bangladesh. An Instagram user named Indian Compass, along with other rightwing users, claimed that Wangchuk was inciting people to protest like in Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. They claimed that Wangchuk is a separatist who disguises himself as an environmentalist.

RSS mouthpiece Panchjanya also claimed that Wangchuk incited the masses.