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A video circulating on social media features climate activist Sonam Wangchuck allegedly discussing the idea of destabilizing Kashmir and India. In the video, he appears to say, "Every area in the world should be happy, and people should have the freedom to move as they wish. That's why referendums and plebiscites are often mentioned. So, if there's a collective agreement, why not in Kashmir?". This article aims to fact-check the validity of this claim.
Fact: This is a short clip from his longer interview he gave to a YouTube channel named ‘The Fourth Estate’taken and shared out of context. In the original interview, he expressed his views on a question posed by the interviewer about the people of Kargil wanting to be part of Kashmir, not Kashmir wanting to be part of Pakistan, as being portrayed in the clipped viral post. Hence, the claim made in the post is False. To check the veracity of the viral claim, Factly performed an internet search using appropriate keywords, which led us to the original full-length interview of Sonam Wangchuk, from which the viral video was clipped. This video was uploaded to The Fourth Estate’s YouTube channel.
During this interview, at around 14:23, journalist Ravindra Singh Sheoran gives a prelude of Wangchuk responding to the tweet of a political leader from Kargil and then proceeds to ask Wangchuck about the desire of the residents of Kargil to be a part of Kashmir. Responding to this question, Wanchuck said “So this is what I was asking. Few people can have their views. But if the whole region or population has the same view… then we will pray and work hard to ensure it will happen. Be it any area in the world,… it should be happy; people should be free to go wherever they want. So that’s why.. you must have heard about referendums and plebiscites. So, if everyone thinks the same, why not in Kashmir?” He was ot discussing destabilising Kashmir or people’s wish to be part of Pakistan.
This clarifies that an edited video is being falsely shared as Sonam Wangchuk talking about a plebiscite in Kashmir. Factly also found a tweet that was brought up by Journalist Ravindra Singh in this interview. After the video went viral on social media, Wangchuk also clarified through a video (archive link) he posted on ‘X.’ He said that his statement was ‘only & only about Ladakh, Leh & Kargil’ To conclude, Sonam Wangchuk has not spoken about destabilising India or about a plebiscite in Kashmir.
This story was originally published by Factly and republished by LokmatTimes.com as part of the Shakti Collective.