Leh, Jan 18 — The detention of climate activist and educator Sonam Wangchuk under the National Security Act (NSA) has “no merit” and is being prolonged through repeated adjournments sought by the government, his wife Gitanjali Angmo has said, alleging serious procedural lapses that render the case untenable.
“The Solicitor General keeps taking dates after dates. I think they have realised there is no merit in the case,” Angmo said, adding that while hearings are comparatively quicker than in many cases, the delays remain unjustified.
Wangchuk, a Magsaysay Award winner, was detained under the NSA on September 26 and shifted to Jodhpur jail, two days after protests in Ladakh demanding statehood and Sixth Schedule status turned violent, leaving four people dead and dozens injured.
Calling the detention an assault on democratic norms, Angmo said, “It’s not just about Sonam as an individual. It’s about the state of democracy in this country and the use of power to illegally detain people who have worked for the nation. If it can happen to Sonam, it can happen to anybody.”
She said the case should already have collapsed due to violations of the NSA’s mandatory safeguards. “As per the Act, all documents forming the grounds of detention must be provided within five, or at most 10, days. But the videos relied upon were given to him on the 28th day,” she said. “This alone makes the detention void ab initio.”
According to Angmo, the delay denied Wangchuk an effective opportunity to represent himself before the advisory board, violating Sections 8 and 11 of the NSA. “In a way, it is an open-and-shut case,” she said.
She further alleged that the grounds of detention were “stale”, relying on videos over a year old, and that most FIRs cited do not even name Wangchuk. “Out of five FIRs, three don’t name him at all. One of the two that do dates back to August 2025, and no notice or inquiry was ever initiated,” she said.
Angmo also questioned the detention order issued by the district magistrate, calling it a “copy-paste” of the police proposal. “The magistrate is required to apply his mind. There are clear judgments that if this doesn’t happen, the detention cannot stand,” she said.
She has moved a habeas corpus petition in the Supreme Court challenging Wangchuk’s detention and seeking his immediate release. “Even meeting Sonam and obtaining his handwritten notes required court intervention,” she said, describing the process as “an uphill task”.
While thanking MPs who raised the issue in Parliament, including Ladakh MP Mohmad Haneefa, Angmo expressed disappointment over the muted response. “I am thankful to those who spoke up, but I am also a bit disappointed it hasn’t been raised to the extent it should have been. We cannot afford to be silent,” she said.
Angmo stressed that the family does not view the case as political but voiced concern over growing polarisation. “We are increasingly divided by party and ideology. My appeal is to think as citizens of independent India, above party lines, in the larger national interest,” she said.
She said the detention has affected ongoing and planned initiatives at the Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, Ladakh (HIAL), which she co-founded with Wangchuk. “Projects like a teacher training fellowship and a K–12 school we planned to launch this year have been delayed,” she said, adding that some donors had privately conveyed they were under pressure.
“The silver lining,” Angmo added, “is that more people now know about HIAL. Once we tide this over, I believe support will return — openly.”
Wangchuk, known nationally for education reforms through SECMOL and innovations such as ice stupas, had been leading peaceful protests and a hunger strike seeking constitutional safeguards for Ladakh, where over 90 per cent of the population belongs to tribal communities eligible under the Sixth Schedule. Authorities have accused him of instigating violence after a breakaway group torched a BJP office in Leh, a charge his family and supporters strongly deny.