Jailed climate activist Sonam Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali Angmo, has strongly refuted allegations of financial irregularities and links to Pakistan, insisting that the charges against him are “misplaced” and politically motivated.
Speaking to PTI over the phone, Angmo described Wangchuk’s ongoing protest movement as “the most Gandhian way possible,” saying that violence in Leh on 24 September escalated only due to the actions of security forces. Four people were killed and at least 90 others injured when demonstrations demanding Sixth Schedule status and statehood for Ladakh spiralled out of control.
Wangchuk, a central figure in Ladakh’s five-year-long agitation for constitutional safeguards, was detained on Friday under the stringent National Security Act (NSA) and shifted to a prison in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. The NSA allows preventive detention without trial for up to a year.
‘No Copy of Detention Order Shared’
Angmo, who co-founded the Himalayan Institute of Alternative Learning (HIAL) with her husband, said the family has not received an official copy of the detention order.
“They promised to send it on Friday. We will take legal recourse,” she said.
Pakistan Link Allegation
Ladakh police chief S.D. Singh Jamwal earlier claimed Wangchuk was being investigated over suspected links with Pakistan, following last month’s arrest of a Pakistani intelligence operative who had allegedly circulated videos of his protests. He also cited “suspicious” foreign visits by the activist, including to Pakistan for an event hosted by The Dawn.
Angmo dismissed the claims outright. She clarified that Wangchuk’s trips abroad were strictly professional and climate-focused, often on the invitation of international universities and organisations.
“We attended a conference organised by the United Nations on climate change. The glacier on top of the Himalayas does not see whether I’m flowing into Pakistan or India,” she said.
She pointed to the ‘Breathe Pakistan’ conference in February, organised by the UN in collaboration with Dawn Media, which brought together experts from across the Himalayan region. Wangchuk, she added, had even praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the event.
International Collaboration
Angmo highlighted that Wangchuk’s work has long been tied to global institutions such as the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), a Nepal-based body comprising eight countries of the Hindu Kush Himalaya, including India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Myanmar, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“I was also there to present a paper on women’s role in climate change,” she said, rejecting claims that international references made during the conference amounted to anti-India rhetoric.
‘Sonam Is Not a Threat’
Challenging the use of the NSA against her husband, Angmo said Wangchuk’s lifelong record of peaceful protest should have been taken into account.
“I think it is a very wrong charge. Sonam certainly is not a threat to any public order,” she said.
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