Days after the violence in Ladakh, an image capturing Indian activist Sonam Wangchuk and Muhammad Yunus, now the head of Bangladesh’s interim government, embracing each other, went viral on social media.
The Leh region witnessed unprecedented violence on September 24 as youth protesting in demand of statehood torched the regional office of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). They also allegedly set a police vehicle on fire, injuring at least 30 police personnel. In retaliation, police fired bullets and tear gas, which reportedly resulted in the death of four people and the injury of dozens. “In self-defence, police had to resort to firing in which unfortunately some casualties are reported,” a home ministry statement released later on the same day said.
It also ‘blamed’ climate activist Sonam Wangchuk for the unrest, alleging he had incited the mob by making provocative statements by mentioning the Arab Spring-style protest and the recent GenZ protests in Nepal. Sonam Wangchuk was arrested on September 26 by Leh police.
Against the backdrop of this, a section of social media users shared the image with suggestive captions. Most of these users also claimed that Congress councillor Phuntsog Stanzin Tsepag was present among the protesters. This is a false claim first made by BJP leader Sambit Patra at a press conference on September 24. Alt News has already debunked this.
X user The Skin Doctor (@theskindoctor13) shared the image labelling Wangchuk as a “dubious figure.”
At the time of this article being written, the post has garnered around over 550,000 views and reshared over 4,000 times.
Nupur J Sharma (@UnSubtleDesi), chief editor of propaganda website Opindia, shared the image on X alongside others and called the protests “planned political violence”.
Several others sshared the same image on September 24 and 25 with some directly claiming that Wangchuk had recently met Yunus.
Fact Check
A reverse image search of the viral image led us to the original picture uploaded by Sonam Wangchuk on February 8, 2020. The caption of the post says, “WONDERFUL MEETING Dr YUNUS AT BRITISH HIGH COMMISSION, DHAKA. Nobel laureate, one of the biggest social entrepreneurs in the world yet so humble n loving.”
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Wangchuk had also shared the photo on Facebook.
It is to be noted that in 2020, Muhammad Yunus had no political role. He was just an economist and a Nobel Laureate. Yunus became the chief advisor of Bangladesh’s interim government in August 2024 following the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government.
To sum up, a photo of Ladakhi activist Sonam Wangchuk and Bangladeshi economist and head of the country’s interim government Muhammad Yunus from the year 2020 is being shared misleadingly following the September 24, 2025 violence in Ladakh.
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