‘Talks without him not acceptable to Ladakh’: Sonam Wangchuk’s wife on reality of normalcy in Ladakh

Sonam Wangchuk is a “political prisoner”, says his wife Gitanjali Angmo in an exclusive interview with Newslaundry.

“They are using the language of the trolls which has been used to character assassinate and defame him. Most of these allegations (in detention order) have been fact-checked by independent third party agencies and these have proved not to have been ascribed to Sonam Wangchuk,” says Gitanjali.

The Ladakh activist has been in jail for almost two months after a peaceful protest turned violent on September 24. He has been charged under the National Security Act. Gitanjali, co-founder of the Himalayan Institute of Alternative Learning, has challenged the grounds of his detention in the Supreme Court.

She says she has not visited Ladakh for fear of arrest and that normalcy has not returned to the region, as detentions persist.

Speaking about the costs borne by HIAL and the Students' Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh — the two alternative learning institutes founded by Wangchuk — Gitanjali says the institutions have been set back by two years due to discontinued academic programmes and government scrutiny.

On talks with the Centre over statehood and the Sixth Schedule, she says any negotiations without Wangchuk’s involvement would not be acceptable to Ladakhis.

Gitanjali also speaks about Wangchuk’s time in jail and what it has meant for the family.

Watch.