New Delhi/Leh: Jailed climate activist Sonam Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali Angmo, has strongly refuted allegations of “Pakistan links” and financial irregularities against him, calling the charges “misplaced” and politically motivated.
Angmo said Wangchuk — detained under the National Security Act (NSA) after protests in Leh turned violent on September 24, leaving four dead and 90 injured — has always championed Ladakh’s cause through peaceful, Gandhian means. “Sonam certainly is not a threat to public order. He only advocated in the most non-violent way,” she said.
Wangchuk, a key figure in the five-year-long agitation seeking Sixth Schedule status and statehood for Ladakh, was moved to Jodhpur jail in Rajasthan. Angmo claimed she has not been given a copy of his detention order yet, despite assurances.
Rejecting police claims that Wangchuk was influenced by Pakistani handlers, Angmo clarified that his international visits were strictly professional and focused on climate change. She pointed out his participation in UN-backed events and explained that his visit to Pakistan earlier this year was for a climate conference organised by UN Pakistan and Dawn Media. “The glacier at the top of the Himalayas is not going to see whether I’m flowing into Pakistan or India,” she said, emphasising the apolitical nature of his work.
Angmo also dismissed allegations that Wangchuk incited violence in Leh. She blamed the escalation on CRPF action, alleging that peaceful protesters reacted only after tear gas was fired. She maintained that his speech, allegedly provocative, was mistranslated, stressing that he only expressed willingness to sacrifice himself for Ladakh’s cause.
On financial irregularity charges, Angmo defended the Himalayan Institute of Alternative Learning (HIAL), which she co-founded with Wangchuk. She said funds received were payments for technology consulting, not foreign donations, and that HIAL provides free education to 400 students through innovations such as ice stupas and solar buildings. She argued that delays in UGC registration and land lease approvals were due to administrative hurdles, not wrongdoing.
Questioning the government’s decision to brand Wangchuk as anti-national, Angmo said, “How can you call someone anti-national who builds shelters for the Indian Army and promotes boycotting Chinese goods?”
Her remarks came after the Union Home Ministry cancelled the FCRA licence of Wangchuk’s earlier organisation, the Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL), citing alleged discrepancies.
