New Delhi: Two days after celebrated climate activist and Ramon Magsaysay awardee Sonam Wangchuk was arrested under the National Security Act (NSA) and hurriedly flown out of Ladakh, his wife Gitanjali J. Angmo has told The Wire that she is yet to speak to him.

“Two days have passed since he was taken away. When he was detained [on September 26] from his ancestral village which is 60 kilometres away from Leh, I was at the Institute [the Himalayan Institute of Alternatives Ladakh or HIAL]. I was informed over the phone that he was being taken to Jodhpur [in Rajasthan] and the inspector promised that he will ensure that I speak to him as soon as he lands in Jodhpur. But I have yet to get that phone call,” Angmo said.

As per some news reports quoting “officials” at the Jodhpur jail, Wangchuk, who has been spearheading a Gandhian movement in Ladakh demanding statehood and sixth schedule status for the region, would be kept in a “solitary cell that will be constantly monitored by CCTVs”.

Angmo has no way of confirming under what condition Wangchuk has been kept in that jail, but reiterated: “He has been leading a Gandhian agitation. That’s why he was doing satyagraha, padyatras, everything peaceful. It was the authorities instead who would drag him away; they did the same even in Delhi.

“Even on September 25, it was not the youth who caused the violence, it was the Central Reserve Police Force which had started it. Ladakhi youth are the most peaceful and gentlemanly.”

She continued: “Today, more than his wife, it has pained me extremely as an Indian, as he was a person who was bringing pride to our country; an internationally acclaimed educationist, innovator, climate activist who dedicated his entire life to work for the country. He is a patriot who worked to make the living conditions of the Indian army better and had discouraged people from reading Chinese books and using Chinese products.

“And yet, he is termed an anti-national and charged under the NSA. We knew they would be doing something like this [taking him far away from Ladakh] to make it inconvenient. He will be defended by the best lawyers of the country, but that he has been accused of being anti-India actually speaks more about the conscience of our leaders than him.”

Stating that the institutions she co-started with Wangchuk, be it the HIAL or the Students Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh, have been “hounded for the last four years” in light of his steadfast demand for statehood and sixth schedule status, Angmo also underlined that Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan had told her categorically when she had visited him in 2024 about HIAL's land allotment file being put on hold by the University Grants Commission.

“I was told by the minister that HIAL and Sonam Wangchuk are all the same and till he fights for [inclusion in the] Sixth Schedule, your file will remain on hold,” she said.

“A fact-finding team of the Central Bureau of Investigation visited us and looked through every financial detail; we have nothing to hide. In fact, between me and Sonam, we annually invest money from our personal wealth to these institutions because we feel that is how social work must be done,” she added.

Significantly, Angmo has alleged that Wangchuk was arrested also because the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council elections are due in October.

“People will not vote for the BJP in those elections as it had made that promise [of including Ladakh in the sixth schedule] earlier and is not fulfilling it. But arresting Wangchuk before these elections would make it even harder for the party as it will not weaken but strengthen the people's resolve to fight for it. He was their voice, he was their representative; it will not help.”

She also said: “One indication of that resolve was seen in the 2024 parliamentary polls; the BJP lost that seat [the Ladakh constituency].”

It has also been insinuated that Wangchuk has a ‘Pakistani connection’ for attending a climate conclave in that country this past February.

“The seminar was organised by the United Nations. He was India's pride there. In fact, on the dais, he had praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for introducing ‘Mission LIFE’ [Lifestyle for the Environment] at COP26, little knowing that he would soon be accused of being with Pakistan … this is extremely painful,” Angmo said.

She continued: “I had accompanied him because I was a keynote speaker at one of the sessions. But I am also from a family with roots in Pakistan before Partition. I had never been to that country; I went there also because I wanted to see where my family was from.”

Wangchuk and Angmo had been to Jodhpur “for a couple of times” for “education work”; they never imagined that he would one day be dragged to that city on charges of being ‘anti-India’ for being the voice of his people, Angmo said.

When asked how he must have felt about that accusation, she replied: “I don’t think he is so weak to bow down to such pressures; he is never sad or elated by criticism or praise for his work; he has never looked for praise for his work. He continues silently to work for the greatness of India; for better climate mitigation. It will not break him down; he will continue regardless. That’s why he is different from many others.”

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