Dr. Gitanjali J. Angmo, wife of Ladakh activist Sonam Wangchuk, approached the Supreme Court on Friday seeking her husband’s immediate release following his arrest.
Dr. Gitanjali J. Angmo, wife of Ladakh social activist Sonam Wangchuk, approached the Supreme Court on Friday seeking her husband’s immediate release following his arrest. Wangchuk was arrested by the police on September 26, two days after protests demanding Ladakh’s statehood and Sixth Schedule status left four people dead and 90 injured in the Union Territory. He has been accused of instigating the violent protests in Ladakh last week.
Gitanjali Angmo, through the habeas corpus petition, seeks the release of her husband, who has been reportedly lodged in a jail in Jodhpur, Rajasthan after he was detained following the violent clashes in Ladakh. It is expected that the matter might be moved for an urgent hearing once the Supreme Court re-opens on October 6, following the Dussehra vacations.
Sonam Wangchuk’s Wife Writes to President Murmu Seeking Immediate Release
On October 1, Sonam Wangchuk’s Wife penned an appeal to Indian President Droupadi Murmu requesting her husband’s immediate and unconditional freedom. In her letter to the President, Gitanjali claimed that authorities have been conducting a systematic campaign against her husband over recent weeks, which she believes aims to suppress his advocacy work. “For the past month especially, and covertly over four years, there has been a comprehensive effort to break my husband’s resolve regarding the issues he champions,” she stated in her petition to Murmu.
Gitanjali questioned whether advocating for environmental concerns, glacier preservation, education system improvements, and community-level innovation should be considered criminal activity. She emphasized that peacefully raising concerns about an ecologically vulnerable region cannot reasonably be classified as endangering national security. Drawing on the President’s own heritage, she made a personal appeal, “Coming from a tribal community yourself, you would have special insight into the sentiments of Ladakh’s residents.”
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She urged Murmu to exercise her authority as head of state to restore order to what she characterized as a confused situation. “As India’s President, you represent fairness, justice and moral conscience. We ask for the immediate release of Sonam Wangchuk, someone who poses no danger to anyone, certainly not to his country. His life’s work has been dedicated to serving Ladakh’s people and supporting the Indian Army in protecting our nation,” Gitanjali wrote.