New Delhi: Gitanjali J Angmo, wife of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu, urging them to facilitate her husband’s release from Jodhpur jail, where he is being held under the National Security Act (NSA).
In her letter, Angmo described the past month as a “full-scale witch hunt” aimed at suppressing her husband’s work and questioned why she has been denied communication with him. She raised multiple concerns, including her inability to meet Wangchuk in person or speak with him by phone, access information on the grounds for his detention, and be apprised of his condition since his arrest on September 26, 2025.
Angmo sent copies of her letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh Kavinder Gupta, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, and the Leh District Collector, highlighting alleged delays and unfulfilled assurances from officials. She claimed that despite being told she would be contacted once Wangchuk reached Jodhpur jail, no communication has occurred.
“Till today, October 1, 2025, I have not spoken to my husband. I am completely unaware of his condition. I was also informed that my legal rights would be explained to me even that has not been done. I am shocked and devastated,” she wrote. Angmo added that she and the staff of the Himalayan Institute of Alternatives Ladakh (HIAL), which she co-founded, were under strict surveillance by the CRPF in Village Phyang.
Sonam Wangchuk’s arrest followed violence in Leh during protests demanding the inclusion of the region in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, which left at least four people dead. Authorities have arrested a total of 44 individuals in connection with the unrest. Restrictions under Section 163 of the BNSS were briefly eased on October 1, allowing residents limited access to essential supplies.
