Sonam Wangchuk's wife trashes 'Pakistan link' charge, blames security forces for September 4 violence

Leh/New Delhi: Jailed activist Sonam Wangchuk's wife Gitanjali Angmo has trashed allegations of "Pakistan link" and financial irregularities against him.

Terming the charge that Wangchuk incited the violence in Leh as “misplaced”, she claimed that he has been protesting in the "most Gandhian way possible" and the "situation escalated" on September 24 due to the actions of the CRPF.

Police detained climate activist Wangchuk on Friday under the stringent National Security Act (NSA), two days after protests demanding Sixth Schedule status and statehood for Ladakh turned violent in Leh last Wednesday, claiming four lives and injuring 90 others.

Wangchuk, a key figure in the five-year-long agitation for Ladakh's rights whose detention drew strong reactions from different quarters, has been lodged in prison in Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

Talking to PTI over the phone, Angmo, the co-founder of Himalayan Institute of Alternative Learning (HIAL), said she has not been able to communicate with her husband since his detention and dismissed all allegations against the climate activist and their institutions.

Claiming that they have not been handed over a copy of the detention order, Angmo said, “They promised to send it on Friday. We will take legal recourse.”

Ladakh DGP S D Singh Jamwal has said Wangchuk is being probed for allegedly having links with Pakistan on the back of last month’s arrest of a Pakistani Intelligence Operative (PIO) who sent videos of his protests across the border.

The police chief also cited some of Wangchuk’s “suspicious” foreign trips, including to Pakistan to attend an event by The Dawn.

Angmo, however, clarified that their recent visit to the neighbouring country was purely professional and climate-focused.

Denouncing the allegations of Pakistan links involving her husband, she said all of Wangchuk's overseas visits were made on the invitation of reputed universities and institutions.

"We attended a conference organised by the United Nations, and it was on climate change. The glacier on the top of the Himalayas is not going to see whether I'm flowing into Pakistan or India," she told PTI.

She said the ‘Breathe Pakistan’ conference held in February was organised by the United Nations Pakistan and Dawn Media, and involved multinational cooperation.

“There are organisations like the ICIMOD, which bring together all the eight Hindu Kush countries and work on different issues. We are part of the ICIMOD’s Himalayan University Consortium," Angmo said.

The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) is a Nepal-based organisation founded in 1983 comprising eight regional member countries of the Hindu Kush Himalaya region – India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan.

“I was also there to present a paper on women's role in climate change... In fact, he (Wangchuk) praised Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi on stage at the event.

“The Nepal and Bangladesh reference being bandied around is actually an example Sonam gave, i.e., ‘when governments are not responsive, it leads to a revolution’. We should avoid the interpretations,” she said.

Angmo also challenged the slapping of the stringent NSA on Wangchuk, which allows detention without a trial for up to 12 months, citing his long record of peaceful protests.

“I think it is a very wrong charge. Sonam certainly is not a threat to any public order,” Angmo said.

She claimed that Wangchuk advocated for his cause in the "most Gandhian way possible" over the last five years, reminding the government of its promises to Ladakhis, and all through maintaining that the protest organised by the Leh Apex Body was peaceful, and the charge that Wangchuk incited the violence was misplaced.

"We have videos to show that the students and the youth were just there for a peaceful protest. Sonam did not even know about (a non-peaceful plan)," she claimed, adding, "He only knew about a peaceful protest. But when the CRPF personnel fired tear gas shells, the youth reacted by pelting stones, and the whole situation escalated.”

Angmo also questioned the response by the security forces, saying, "My question is, who gave the CRPF the right to open fire? Why should you open fire on your own people, on your own youth?"

On the allegation that Wangchuk made a provocative speech, Angmo claimed his Ladakhi words were taken out of context and mistranslated.

“He just said that ‘when change has to happen, it can start with one individual, or with the death of one individual and that individual could be me; I'm happy to give my life for it’," she said.

She also questioned the logic behind the alleged attempt to portray Wangchuk as an anti-national, saying, “How can you portray a person as anti-national who has been talking about making shelters for the Indian Army, and boycotting Chinese goods?”

On the charges of financial irregularities involving their institutions, Angmo presented a detailed defence about the foreign funding of HIAL, UGC registration, FCRA cancellation of SECMOL and land allotment.

Angmo denied that HIAL took donations from abroad without Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) clearance, claiming the funds were payments for their technologies.

“We have the service agreements, which say this is a consulting assignment that we're giving to HIAL for which we will be paying them,” she said.

She also said that HIAL does not charge its 400 students any fees and raises its running costs through innovations such as ice stupas and passive solar buildings, noting they do not patent their technologies, leaving them free for public use.

Angmo said HIAL applied for UGC registration in 2022 and paid a deposit amount of Rs 15 lakh, but “if at all the registration has not happened, it's because they are stalling it”.

She also claimed that the lease for HIAL's land is held up because the UT administration did not have a category for such institutions, adding that “while questions are being raised on HIAL, the Sindhu Central University, which started in 2021, still doesn't have a building”.

Angmo stressed that Wangchuk is not against development, but is advocating for the Sixth Schedule to give locals a say in "mindful development".

She pointed to HIAL’s suggestion to use translucent solar panels in Changtang to grow fodder for Pashmina goats alongside electricity production.

“This kind of mindful development is what he’s talking about... HIAL is at the forefront of innovation. It is not that he’s anti-development," Angmo said.

After the September 4 violence, the Union home ministry cancelled the FCRA licence granted to the Students' Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh (SECMOL), an organisation founded by Wangchuk, citing alleged financial discrepancies.