By Kumkum Chadha
It has been a long haul: from one court hearing to another; deferred dates and a wait that does not seem to end. It was in September last year, when climate activist-turned crusader Sonam Wangchuk was arrested. An erstwhile poster boy of the BJP, he was charged with anti-national activities and his alleged links with Pakistan.
As a kid he was called “stupid” because he did not understand the language the students in his school spoke. He also looked different. He was barely nine then and had to move from his home in Ladakh to Srinagar because his father was sworn in as minister. The rest is history.
Known for designing solar mud buildings, and ice stupas, Wangchuk also developed solar powered tents for the Indian army to help them beat harsh weather conditions in high altitude areas.
Today, the same man, better known as an educational reformer, climate activist and an innovator is in the eye of a storm. The government has charged him under the National Security Act and put him in jail following violence in Ladakh which killed four people. The Act empowers the government to pre-emptively act against individuals perceived to be a threat to national security.
The government version: Wangchuk gave inflammatory speeches and instigated protestors who then turned violent. However, the other side of the story is that the police opened fire on the protestors and “shot them in the chest and head” killing innocents.
While Wangchuk languishes in a jail in Jodhpur, his wife Dr Gitanjali J Angmo is running from pillar to post for her husband’s release: the “tareekh pe tareekh”, date after date, syndrome as they say. “There is a delay tactic on the part of the government and the Union of India because I think they, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the people who have detained him know that this is a wrongful detention…. Detaining Sonam is a battle of nerves and a lull before the storm is always dangerous,” his wife said in a wide ranging interview to a prominent national daily.
Calling it an “open and shut” case, Gitanjali said it should have been disposed off in 30 days. But the fact remains that Sonam has been in jail for over 100 days with no signs of an early release.
Yet, Gitanjali is not the one to give up: “The name of the game is patience and resilience,” she said, displaying a rare resolve to fight to the finish as it were.
Her husband, she said, is fighting for a cause. “Sonam did not go on a hunger strike or undertake a padayatra for any personal motive. It was for Ladakh and he has been detained so that he can be silenced.
Thanks to the administration, a fear-psychosis has gripped Ladakh and its people. “Even today those who voice their opinion are taken into police custody; they are being questioned and even arrested so there is an atmosphere of fear… tactics are being used to keep Ladakhis quiet. Yet everyone is rooting for Sonam, for Ladakh and for justice,” she said.
Seeking a quick resolution, both for the issues confronting Ladakh and Sonam’s release, she said: “It is interlinked. The problem that Sonam stands for are the problems of the people of Ladakh; the problem of the government not fulfilling its promises and thus betraying the people of Ladakh, namely granting the Sixth Schedule and statehood,” Gitanjali said.
Discussion and not detention is the answer. “It is to explain to the people that if you are not giving the Sixth Schedule and statehood why not? Is there a way out?” she said reiterating that the government should resolve the issue as soon as possible and grant the people what is lawfully theirs. She also underlined the fact that “Sonam’s release is crucial”.
Gitanjali has knocked all doors before approaching the courts, but her efforts have proved futile. At this juncture, she is fighting a lone battle. Apart from being hounded from all sides, there are genuine fears about her safety outside and her husband’s in jail. But it is “faith in the divine” that has kept her going. “Initially, I did have fears. My colleagues who were jailed in Ladakh were beaten. For the initial 10-11 days, I had no clue where Sonam was, so that was scary and I feared that they were beating him up too. It was only after I met him in jail and found him in one piece that I was relieved,” she said.
Expressing disappointment at the Leh Apex Body, which is negotiating with the government for a resolution to the problems and fulfilling their demands, she said: “They got played in the hands of the government. If they had stood their ground and said unless everyone and Sonam is released… but I guess they did what they did in their wisdom.” She was quite certain that giving in to the government will not yield anything. “I, for one, would not have caved in and would have made Sonam’s release a pre-condition to talks,” she said.
In the event of the ABL not getting its way, namely statehood and agreeing for less, would Sonam play ball?
Being rational and realistic, Gitanjali said: “Statehood is not an easy process. From a hill council to a state where ever it has happened, it has gone through a legislature. It can be a stepping stone to statehood if that is feasible, but all this has to be discussed. Sonam is not a radical person who does not see the other point of view. If the government has reasons for why and how statehood or Sixth Schedule is not possible, Sonam would find a via media to negotiate and reach a solution as a stepping stone for the final outcome a few years later.” However, she refused to see this as a “climb down”, preferring to describe it as a “stepping stone to the process”.
Even though she and her husband are on the same page, “on the end result” Gitanjali said unlike her husband, she would not follow the hunger strike route, like her husband did. Instead, she would opt for a dialogue and look for solutions. “Getting the other person to listen, so to speak. I have been telling him to look for a way to have a meeting and park ourselves in Delhi”.
So, while she would have handled this differently, she backs him solidly on the basic issues of statehood and Sixth Schedule as she reaffirms that “Ladakh needs a separate identity”.
—The writer is an author, journalist and political commentator
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