New Delhi: Gitanjali J Angmo, wife of renowned Ladakh-based environmentalist Sonam Wangchuk, has appealed to the Indian President Droupadi Murmu for the unconditional release of her husband, who is currently detained under the stringent National Security Act (NSA) and lodged in the Jodhpur jail.
According to Kashmir Media Service, in a strongly worded letter to the Indian president, Gitanjali said that a “full scale witch hunt” has been launched against Wangchuk — a prominent voice from Ladakh known globally for his environmental activism and educational reforms.
“For the past one month in particular, and for the past four years covertly, a relentless campaign has been waged to kill the spirit of my husband and all the causes he stands for and espouses”, she wrote. “Apart from the illegal detention, the manner in which the State and its agencies are hounding us and have kept us under surveillance is deplorable”.
“Sonam Wangchuk is a person who can never be a threat to anyone. He has dedicated his life to serve the brave sons of soil of Ladakh….”, she said.
Gitanjali, who is the founder and CEO of Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, Ladakh (HIAL), said her husband was not allowed to carry necessary daily medications when he was arrested, adding she has been denied any phone communication with him since his detention. “I am completely unaware about my husband’s condition. I am shocked and devastated,” Gitanjali stated.
She questioned whether peaceful advocacy for environmental conservation, educational reform, and tribal rights could be considered a crime. “To raise one’s voice for the upliftment of a backward tribal belt, which is ecologically fragile, cannot and should not be equated with a threat to national security,” she wrote.
She said that she herself was put under CRPF surveillance in Leh’s Phyang village, where HIAL is located. She further revealed that students and staff of the Institute were also put under “tight surveillance”, while two staff members have been detained by police in the past three days without legal justification. “Even the media was not allowed to enter the campus and speak to us so that the truth does not reach the world”.
Gitanjali warned that such actions could have long-term implications for national unity and security. “To treat a son of Ladakh so shabbily is not just a sin — it is a strategic error in building strong borders based on solidarity and peaceful coexistence,” she concluded.
