Wangchuk's wife seeks Prez's intervention for his 'unconditional release'

NEW DELHI: Gitanjali Angmo , wife of education reformer and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk on Wednesday in a representation to the President of India Droupadi Murmu sought her intervention and requested for “unconditional release” of Wangchuk, who she said is a “person who can never be a threat to anyone, leave alone his nation”.

“A full scale witch hunt has been unleashed for the past one month in particular, and for the past four years covertly, to kill the spirit of my husband and all the causes he stands for and espouses,” Angmo, who is Founder and CEO of the Himalayan Institute of Alternatives Ladakh (HIAL), states in her representation dated October 1.

The copies of the representation have also been sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal and LG of Ladakh.

She highlights in her representation to the President that since she was informed about her husband’s detention on September 26 under the National Security Act by the Leh police over phone, she still is completely unaware about her husband's condition. "I am shocked and devastated," she added.

"Is it a sin to espouse the cause of people and fight against reckless and unchecked development activities in a ecology fragile area of Ladakh, " she asks.

“Is it a crime to speak about climate change, melting glaciers, educational reforms and grassroot innovation? To raise one's voice for upliftment of a backward tribal belt which is ecologically fragile in a peaceful Gandhian manner for the last four years? It certainly cannot be termed as a threat to national security,” Angmo adds.

Appealing to the President to intervene, Angmo states, “You being from a tribal community/background, would understand the feelings of the people of Leh Ladakh better than anyone else."

Wangchuk, who has been at the forefront of the movement seeking statehood and extension of the Sixth Schedule to Ladakh, was detained under NSA for allegedly instigating the violent protests on September 24 and later shifted to a jail in Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

Meanwhile, Angmo has alleged in her representation that she was put under CRPF surveillance in Village Phyang, where HIAL is also situated. “Students and staff of the Institute were also put under tight surveillance. Two members of the Institute were taken into police custody over the past 3 days, presumably without any authority of law,” Angmo states

“Am I not entitled to meet and speak with my husband on phone and in person where ever he is detained? Can I not be of assistance to my husband to know his ground of detention and to espouse his legal rights of seeking justice before the court of law? Am I not entitled to know the condition of my husband who is in detention?,” she asks.

“Apart from the illegal detention of my husband, the manner in which the state and its agencies are hounding us and have kept us under surveillance is deplorable. It is violative of the spirit and ethos of the Constitution of India ,” Angmo has alleged.

She goes on to appeal to the President as the head of the state to “intervene and inject the voice of sanity in an otherwise chaotic state of affairs. As the President of India, you embody the principles of equity, justice and conscience!”