Srinagar: The Ladakh government has directed the Himalayan Institute of Alternative Learning, led by activist Sonam Wangchuk and his wife Gitanjali Angmo, to halt activities at their Phyang-based school until the Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh high court issues a direction.Wangchuk was released from prison on March 14, 2026, after spending 170 days in preventive detention after having been slapped with the National Security Act following the protests for statehood in Ladakh in September last year. This June-July, Wangchuk fasted for 26 days as part of the Cockroach Janata Party’s demand for education reforms, during which he was forcibly removed by police personnel and taken to a hospital, where he continued his fast before eventually stopping.‘Matter pending’In a notice issued on November 1 by the Leh Tehsildar, the administration said that classes at the school, called Desert Flower, had allegedly begun without the requisite approvals.“They have sent a notice which is baseless, and we have replied to it,” co-founder and CEO Gitanjali Angmo told The Wire.In a notice, the Office of the Tehsildar, Leh, advised Angmo against undertaking any further action towards the functioning or commencement of activities at the school while the matter remains pending before the high court. The administration claimed that it had received information that the institute had commenced class work and other activities without obtaining the requisite consent, clearances or approvals from the concerned authorities.Responding to the administration’s letter, HIAL in its reply wrote, “Presently, 50 young children, aged between 3-5 years, have been enrolled for kindergarten. It is pertinent to clarify that the Desert Flower School constitutes an ongoing activity of HIAL, which predates the aforesaid developments. The arbitrary and indiscriminate action of the authorities will severely impact and prejudice the interests and rights of these young children”.‘Ladakh admin delayed NOC’The notice also referred to a letter dated September 22, 2026, in which Angmo had approached the Deputy Commissioner, Leh, seeking a no-objection certificate or clearance for a list of members proposed to take charge of the school’s managing committee.Angmo told The Wire that it is the Ladakh administration which has delayed the no-objection certificate for the school. The administration has directed Angmo to maintain strict status quo and ensure that no action was taken that could prejudice the proceedings pending before the high court over the institute’s land allotment. In August 2025, the Union Territory administration had cancelled the land allotment made to HIAL. The decision was subsequently challenged before the high court through a writ petition, which remains pending.Also read: Reason Cited for Wangchuk’s HIAL Lease Cancellation Stems From Govt’s Own Paperwork Delays, Show DocsThe administration had cited a “consistent and deliberate pattern of disregard for the law spanning two decades” and claimed that the allotment automatically lapsed due to unpaid dues and an unexecuted lease deed.The November 1 notice invokes the pendency of the case as the reason for restraining further activities at Desert Flower School.“We have obtained a status quo order on the land from the high court stating that the respondents, which is the UT of Ladakh, should maintain status quo and not create any third-party rights, meaning they cannot touch the land in any way,” she added.HIAL wrote in a response letter to the Tehsildar, “It is most respectfully requested that the Notice dated 01.11.2026 may kindly be withdrawn, so that the functioning/ commencement of activities at Desert Flower School, HIAL is not affected. HIAL remains fully committed to complying with all directions.”Not newThe institute’s land was allotted in 2018 for an educational institution “dedicated to sustainable mountain development”.The land tussle between the administration and HIAL is not new. Angmo had approached the court challenging the August 21, 2025 order cancelling the allotment. Her petition maintains that the land was granted for a public-interest educational initiative and that the institute has used it for academic programmes, climate-adaptive construction, community training and public-service activities, with official approval and participation by government authorities. The land in question covers 1,076 kanals and one marla.Also read: ‘This Looks Like a Witch Hunt’: Gitanjali Angmo Questions HIAL Land Cancellation“What kind of administration creates the obstacle, sits on it for years, and then blames the institution that has been pleading with it to remove that very obstacle?” Angmo had earlier told The Wire on the land allotment row.HIAL’s work had been recognised internationally, and it has built shelters for the Indian Army to help soldiers withstand the extreme conditions of the Himalaya. Gitanjali, in her last conversation with The Wire, said that the institute welcomed honest scrutiny by the administration, but not an attempt to “erase years of HIAL’s achievement with a few paragraphs in an affidavit”.She called the administration’s land allotment cancellation a “witch-hunt”, adding that the administration is trying to “drag” Wangchuk’s public statements and the violent protests in Ladakh of September 2025 into a land dispute that began in 2018.