SRINAGAR: Gitanjali J Angmo, wife of jailed Ladakh activist Sonam Wangchuk, appealed to President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and the Lt Governor of Ladakh for his immediate release, alleging state harassment.
In a three-page letter addressed to the president, Wangchuk's wife alleged "witch-hunt" against her husband for espousing the cause of the people over the past four years and said she is completely unaware about her husband's condition.
Wangchuk was arrested under the stringent National Security Act (NSA) of 1980 and lodged in Jodhpur Jail, Rajasthan, following violence over statehood and the 6th Schedule in Leh on September 24, which left four people dead and more than 80 injured. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has accused Wangchuk of inciting violence through provocative speeches.
“On September 26, my husband Sonam Wangchuk was detained under Section 3(2) of the National Security Act, 1980. I was informed that Wangchuk is being shifted to Central Jail, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, along with ASP Rishabh Shukla and assured that after landing in Jodhpur, he will call and make me speak with my husband. Till today (October 1), the officer has not called me or made me speak to my husband. I am completely unaware about my husband's condition,” Gitanjali, founder and CEO of Himalayan Institute of Alternatives (HIAL) Ladakh, wrote.
She questioned, “Am I not entitled to meet and speak with my husband on phone and in person wherever he is detained? Can I not be of assistance to my husband to know his ground of detention and to espouse his legal rights of seeking justice before the court of law? Am I not entitled to know the condition of my detained husband? As a responsible citizen of India, are we not entitled to peaceful freedom of expression and movement?”
Wangchuk, who received the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2018, had been leading a peaceful agitation for 6th Schedule recognition and statehood for Ladakh and had been on a 35-day hunger strike from September 10. Two days after the Leh violence, he was detained and booked under the NSA before being shifted to Jodhpur Jail.
“I am shocked and devastated. I was put under CRPF surveillance in Village Phyang, where our Institute (HIAL) is also situated. Students and staff were also put under tight surveillance. Two members of the Institute were taken into police custody, presumably without any authority of law. Even media was not allowed to enter the campus and speak to us,” Gitanjali alleged.
She said the institute received a communication dated September 30 regarding FIR no. 144 of 2025 under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. “I have been asked to provide a list of fellowship students of Ladakh and Hills, residential staff teachers trainees residing at HIAL Institute, Phyang and enrolment at the institution,” she added.
Gitanjali alleged a “full-scale witch hunt” over the past month, and covertly over the past four years, to undermine her husband and the causes he supports.
She said, “Apart from the illegal detention of my husband, the manner in which the State and its agencies are hounding us and have kept us under surveillance is deplorable. It is violative of the spirit and ethos of the Constitution of India including Articles 21 and 22, which guarantee every citizen the fundamental right to legal representation.”
“Is it a crime to speak about climate change, melting glaciers, educational reforms and grassroots innovation? To raise one's voice for upliftment of a backward tribal belt which is ecologically fragile in a peaceful Gandhian manner for the last four years? It certainly cannot be termed as a threat to national security,” she said.
Highlighting Wangchuk’s support for the Indian Army, she said, “Wangchuk has been building shelters for the Indian Army to make its officers and jawans sleep warm and fight effectively. To treat the son of the soil of Ladakh so shabbily is not just a sin but a strategic error for building strong borders with solidarity and peaceful coexistence.”
“My husband Sonam Wangchuk has always stood for the solidarity of India and the strengthening of our borders and the integration of its peripheral regions through a strong democratic mechanism - Statehood/UT with legislation and 6th Schedule,” she added
“Is it a sin to espouse the cause of people and fight against reckless and unchecked development activities in an ecologically fragile area of Ladakh? This country has learnt its lessons from its experiences from Uttarakhand, Himachal and the North East of late,” she continued.
She urged President Murmu, PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to intervene and “inject voice of sanity in an otherwise chaotic state of affairs. We request for an unconditional release of Sonam Wangchuk, a person who can never be a threat to anyone, leave alone his Nation. He has dedicated his life to serve the brave sons of soil of Ladakh and stands in solidarity with the Indian Army in defence of our great nation!”