Projecting Sonam Wangchuk as an anti-national part of ‘witch hunt’ says wife

New Delhi: Gitanjali Angmo, the wife of education reformer and activist Sonam Wangchuk and co-founder of the Himalayan Institute of Alternatives Ladakh (HIAL), on Tuesday alleged that “baseless narratives” were being spread against him and his institutes to project him as an “anti-national” as part of a “witch-hunt”.

Wangchuk, who has been at the forefront of the movement seeking statehood and extension of the Sixth Schedule to Ladakh, was detained under the stringent National Security Act (NSA) in Leh on Friday for allegedly instigating the violent protests on September 24 that left four people dead and scores of others, including security personnel, injured.

He was later shifted to a jail in Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

Talking to reporters here, Angmo challenged authorities to an open debate on the allegations, including those suggesting links to Pakistan, and said neither she has been able to contact Wangchuk nor has she been provided with formal documents detailing the charges against him by the administration.

“There was no need to put the NSA on Sonam Wangchuk; they are giving one-sided narratives,” Angmo claimed and asserted that she felt “almost in a house arrest” herself and decided to travel to the national capital to speak out.

Angmo described the situation as a “witch-hunt” aimed at weakening the movement for Sixth Schedule protections for Ladakh and claimed her organisations, HIAL and The Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL), have provided all clarifying documents to officials from the CBI and the Income Tax Department.

“A witch-hunt has been going on against us. We have given all documents clarifying the charges to officials from CBI, to the Income Tax Department, yet a smokescreen is being created to defame Sonam, so that the movement for the Sixth Schedule can be weakened,” she alleged.

She said many doubts and aspersions are being hurled at Wangchuk, including about receiving the Magsaysay Award.

“Why is the Magsaysay award being considered so bad?” she asked.

Highlighting the stature of the award, she noted that approximately 60 Indians have been recipients, including revered figures such as Vinoba Bhave, Satyajit Ray, MS Subbulakshmi and MS Swaminathan.

“Of these, 20 people have been given Padma awards… Does that mean the government of India is giving awards to anti-nationals?” she said.

She also refuted allegations of FCRA violations and financial irregularities and said HIAL’s earnings came from institutions paying for its research, which she termed “export of services” and income.

Regarding SECMOL’s FCRA cancellation, she argued that the concept of “food sovereignty” was misinterpreted, emphasising its meaning of people growing their own food for national sovereignty.

“If they are claiming that a Pakistani was spotted in Ladakh, our question is — ‘how did you allow the security breach’? This is not for Sonam Wangchuk to clarify… MHA needs to clarify why a Pakistani was in Ladakh,” she demanded.

Ladakh Director General of Police S D Singh Jamwal had on Saturday said that Wangchuk is under investigation following last month’s arrest of a Pakistani intelligence operative who had sent videos of his protests across the border.

Angmo also defended Wangchuk’s visit to Pakistan in February for a climate conference organised by the UN and Dawn Media, noting he had appreciated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mission LiFE from the stage in the neighbouring country.

Angmo stressed that Wangchuk has always advocated for Gandhian methods of protest and pinned the responsibility for the recent violence on the Union Territory (UT) administration.

“When the violence happened, Sonam was sitting at the site of the hunger strike. He did not even know what was happening… Sonam Wangchuk is not answerable for the violence; the UT administration should tell why there was a breach and why there was violence,” she said.

Questioning the “sudden portrayal of Wangchuk as anti-national”, Angmo highlighted the numerous honours he and his projects have received, including government awards for HIAL’s innovative passive solar-heated building technology and the Ice Stupa project.

She said HIAL, in the last seven years, has built 1,80,000 square feet of passive solar-heated structures, which save around 4,000 tonnes of carbon per month. “This technology is not available anywhere in the world.”

“If we treat people doing good work like this, how would India become ‘Vishwaguru’?” she asked.

She asked if today Wangchuk is an anti-national, “why was the government giving him so many awards?” and added, “You use all their innovations, but they are not acknowledging it is Sonam Wangchuk’s ideas. Instead of rewarding him, they are treating him like a criminal.”

Angmo said that she and Wangchuk’s legal team are still waiting for formal detention orders and details “We will use the best legal system in the country to defend him and we will not rest till the truth has been revealed,” she said.

She said that there is currently a curfew in Leh and forces are deployed around the HIAL campus.