Educator and activist Gitanjali J. Angmo on Saturday sharply questioned the timing of the Ladakh administration's three-day festival, saying the event risks overwhelming a period of grief, protest and unresolved political demands in the Union Territory. Her criticism came as Ladakh observed Martyrs' Month to remember four Leh residents killed in security force firing on September 24, 2025, and as supporters marked one year since the arrest of her husband, climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, under the National Security Act.
The administration is holding the Ladakh Festival from September 26 to 28, describing it as an effort "to bring together local artisans, performers, and visitors from around the world to honour the true spirit of Ladakh." But Angmo argued that the dates chosen for the celebration sit uncomfortably close to some of the most painful moments in Ladakh's recent political history.
"These dates carry memories far heavier than any festival. Around these very days last year, Ladakh witnessed violence, police firing, deaths, injuries, arrests and imprisonment. These are not distant events from another era. They happened on these very streets, at this very time of the year. Today, the 26th of September also marks one year since Mr. Wangchuk's illegal detention," she wrote in a post on X.
Angmo said the coincidence of the festival with Martyrs' Day and the anniversary of Wangchuk's detention should prompt reflection rather than celebration. "So, as the Ladakh Festival arrives so close to Martyrs' Day and the anniversary of Sonam Wangchuk's detention, ask what this moment should mean. Ask whether celebration should be allowed to numb memories that are barely a year old," she said.
In a longer appeal to people in Ladakh, Angmo urged residents not to let public festivities eclipse what she described as the unfinished struggle for constitutional safeguards, environmental protection, identity and democratic rights. "If you believe that the struggle for Ladakh's constitutional safeguards, environment, identity and democratic rights represents Ladakh's future, mark these days with remembrance and solidarity rather than allowing festivity to drown them out. Question the timing. Remember what happened. Remember those who died, those who were injured, those who were arrested, and those who spent months behind bars," she said.
She added that the passage of one year was not enough for the events of September 2025 to fade into the background. "A year is not long enough for such memories to become comfortable," she said. "Stay awake. Stay focused. Keep your eyes on the larger goal. Do not allow celebration to become an opium that numbs memory. Do not let music become louder than the questions that remain unanswered. And do not let festivity make Ladakh forget what happened on these very days last year, or what remains at stake today."
The controversy over the festival comes against the backdrop of continuing political tension in Ladakh, where demands for statehood and inclusion under the Sixth Schedule have remained central to public mobilisation. The killing of four local residents in police firing last year and Wangchuk's subsequent detention have become defining symbols for critics of the administration's handling of the agitation.
Wangchuk himself addressed another sensitive issue on Saturday, issuing an apology for earlier remarks in which he compared the situation in Ladakh with that in Tibet. In a video statement, he said: "If I hurt any sentiments, I tender my apology for the same. I understand the sufferings of Tibetan friends and have always opposed Chinese repression, but if you had seen what people in Leh went through on that unfortunate day, you might not disagree."
At a public event on September 24, Wangchuk had said Ladakh had chosen India over China because people believed they would be able to live "with our heads held high in India where there is democracy." He then added that "such oppression is being inflicted on Ladakh, which, in my view, even China is not doing to Tibet."
Those comments drew a strong objection from the Central Tibetan Administration, the Tibetan government-in-exile, which said the comparison between Ladakh and Tibet was "misplaced" and "inaccurate." Wangchuk's apology appeared aimed at easing that friction, though his broader criticism of the treatment of protesters in Ladakh remained intact.
In his video statement on Saturday, Wangchuk also said that while Ladakh has historically been "happy and prosperous" in India, "the last si..." The statement was cut off in the source material, but it underscored the continuing emotional and political charge surrounding the anniversary of the violence and his detention.
For many in Ladakh, the clash between remembrance and celebration now reflects a deeper struggle over how the Union Territory's recent history should be interpreted. Angmo's intervention framed the festival not simply as a cultural event, but as a test of whether official pageantry can coexist with unresolved grief, political demands and the memory of those killed, injured or jailed during last year's agitation.