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Journalism of Courage
Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk’s wife Tuesday hit out at Centre saying every allegation against her husband, of him having any Pak links, is wrong.
At a press conference today, his wife Gitanjali Angmo said: “Every allegation against Sonam is wrong. There has been a witch-hunt against him for the last four years. A narrative is being set against Sonam. One allegation is that he attended a conference in Pakistan. I want to ask, what’s wrong with that? In February, the UN organised a conference. We all know that the Hindu Kush Himalaya spans eight countries, including China, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bhutan. There was nothing wrong with attending that conference. He even appreciated PM Modi’s Mission LiFE there. If a Pakistani national was present in Ladakh, then the MHA is answerable for how this breach happened. Sonam is not answerable for this.”
Wangchuk was detained under the National Security Act (NSA) by the police in Leh on Friday (September 26), after protests demanding statehood and the Sixth Schedule for Ladakh turned violent. Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali Angmo, had claimed that he was taken to a jail in Jodhpur. In an interview with The Indian Express, she had said: “In no way is Wangchuk a threat to public order. For the last four years, he has been protesting in the peaceful Gandhian way. The very premise on which the detention has been done is not right.”
The Centre had earlier held him responsible for instigating the violent protests that broke out in Leh Wednesday last week, in which four people were killed in police firing and 50 others were injured.
Director General of Police S D Jamwal, while addressing a press conference in Leh a day after Wangchuk was detained under the National Security Act (NSA), claimed that earlier they had detained a Person of Interest (POI) from Pakistan, who used to send “reports” about Wangchuk across the border.
Meanwhile, after the Apex Body Leh (ABL), one of the two Ladakh-based organisations spearheading the movement demanding statehood—announced its decision to opt out of informal and structured discussions with the Centre, the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) followed suit on Tuesday.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, KDA co-chairman Asgar Ali Karbalai said: “We are constantly in touch with the Apex Body Leh. We will not participate in the talks with the Centre until Sonam Wangchuk is released, arrests are stopped, those already detained are freed, and a judicial probe is ordered.”
He also demanded a judicial inquiry into the September 24 firing by security forces during a shutdown in Leh.
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