Gitanjali Angmo, wife of detained climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, has moved the Supreme Court seeking his immediate release.
In her habeas corpus petition that was filed through lawyer Sarvam Ritam Khare, Angmo has challenged Wangchuk’s detention under the stringent National Security Act (NSA), questioning the decision to invoke the NSA against her husband.
Wangchuk was detained on September 26, two days after protests demanding statehood and Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh left four people dead and 90 injured in the union territory. He is currently lodged in Jodhpur jail in Rajasthan.
Angmo has alleged in her plea that she is yet to get a copy of the detention order, which is a clear violation of a detainee’s rights.
She also said she has had no contact with Wangchuk so far.
Recently, the Ladakh administration rejected claims of a “witch-hunt” or a “smokescreen” operation against Wangchuk.
Angmo, however, challenged the administration’s allegations of Wangchuk being “anti-national”, saying it is ironic that a government that had rewarded the educator-activist for innovating ice stupas and building solar heating is now linking him to Pakistani intelligence.
Angmo also claims the family has been under “virtual house arrest”, and that staff and students at Wangchuk’s institute are kept under detention.
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She alleged that her movement is under constant surveillance, and that one of her staff members was detained and being treated “inhumanely” by the police.
“I am being followed everywhere in Delhi. A car follows me wherever I go... One of the staff members who was working closely with us, was detained. He is in police custody... He is being beaten up and tortured mentally and physically,” Angmo told a press agency.
She also denied receiving any judicial help to get in touch with her husband.
“I only got a call from a member of an apex body, telling me that he received a call from a DSP, saying that some people could meet [Sonam Wangchuk]. I told him that I want this in writing. But I never received anything such,” she said.
Worried about the treatment being meted out to Wangchuk whilst he is in detention, Angmo said, “I am worried about how he must be getting treated in jail... This message should reach throughout India: If justice can be delayed for a celebrity, with whom the whole country is rallying, who has worked at the grassroots, then what recourse does a commoner have?”
Angmo had also written to the President, the Prime Minister and the Law Minister, though she said she still awaits a reply from any of them.
“I have not received any response till now. I cited that he should be immediately released because his detention is illegal. He poses no threat to national security in any way... Plus, I should be allowed to meet him... There was no response till yesterday. That is why we filed a petition under the habeas corpus with the Supreme Court of India,” she explained.
Angmo maintained that she does not want to “politicise” the matter, since that does not “align with her, or her husband’s value system”.
“We have support from every corner, but as I have said from the start, I do not want to politicise this issue, because that is not aligned with Sonam’s or my value system. We have always been apolitical. We want to fight this on its merits,” she said.
Angmo said they’re appreciative of all the support streaming in from “infuencers, the media and political houses, NGOs, and even retired major generals and members of the army”.
“We have seen positive support come in from all quarters, and we are grateful to each of you. But, we do not want this to become a political issue or a political agenda. Sonam has dedicated his life to science, education, the environment and the youth with purity of purpose. We want to carry this forward in that same spirit,” she said.
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