It is a couple which is in the news. It is also one that is a household name in Ladakh: Sonam Wangchuk and Gitanjali J Angmo: a husband-wife team that has dreamt together, worked together and fought together. When Sonam was jailed by the government for inciting violence, it was Gitanjali who fought for his release. From trying to make the government see sense, she moved the highest court for his release. She was sure of a win, but before the courts could, the government revoked Sonam’s detention.
It was in September last year that Sonam was detained following protests demanding statehood for Ladakh. What followed was violence that led the government to book Wangchuk for allegedly instigating the crowds.
Even as Sonam was taken into custody, Gitanjali moved heaven and earth for his release, quite confident that the courts would rule in their favour.
However, after 170 days, the government revoked Sonam’s detention. Ostensibly the step was taken to “foster peace” even while naysayers said that the government buckled quite aware that the apex court may soon order his release.
“Our case was very strong and victory in the Court was certain, if not in a week, then in a month. And Sonam was okay to stay in jail and I was okay to continue the fight,” Gitanjali said in an interview recently to a national daily.
On his part, Sonam attempts to decode the ongoing battle with the government. “Negotiation means give and take for a bigger purpose for a better tomorrow. Negotiation does not mean that one side does not budge. It is not negotiation if each sticks to one’s own point. Negotiation means flexibility and not one side winning,” he said in the same interview.
Before he was put in jail, Sonam was spewing venom, but once out, he was visibly mellowed and had adopted a conciliatory tone towards the government. Many saw it as a “deal” he had struck, something that Sonam dismisses. “What kind of deal could it be when there are no conditions put on what I say or do? I reiterate that I don’t like protests and hunger strikes, but if things don’t work out, I will do everything that the Constitution of this country allows, but I will do it peacefully,” he said.
Sonam, however, warned that going forward he would continue supporting the demands and “if the situation arises we will do everything that is possible”.
On whether this warning suggests a repeat of the past, Sonam said: “What I did in the past, it was neither unconstitutional nor illegal or morally wrong. But if things do not work, the Constitution provides the right that we should be heard and why would I not make use of it.”
Sonam felt that a “positive beginning” is the need of the hour, so to speak. “Many people tell me that they have no intentions of taking any positive steps except wanting to wriggle out of a losing situation, but this is something I don’t wish to believe. I do hope the government keeps its word and creates an atmosphere of trust for a dialogue to resolve long pending issues, but if they don’t then it would be a problem, but we will have to wait and watch,” he said.
Gitanjali added: “On our side there is nothing that we have asked either for ourselves personally or for our institutions. Our cases were strong and winnable in the court.” On a toss-up between protest and negotiations, Gitanjali said: “I am more of a dialogue person and my suggestion to Sonam would be to move forward on the constructive path of dialogue and achieve milestone without losing sight of the final goal, which is statehood for Ladakh,” quite optimistic that Ladakh will get what it “truly deserves”.
Even as Sonam’s indefinite fasts in the past have grabbed headlines. Gitanjali said that to get a “win-win”, it may not be prudent to fast or go on a hunger strike. “Ladakh interests would never be sacrificed on any altar, but evolution is when the means to that end also evolves”.
At this point, Sonam clarified that even if the means or methods change “the spirit will be the same. Yet I want to be prepared for other possibilities too. I will not be sleeping happily in the belief that everything is over and all is well, but will continue working and striving towards that goal and objective. Yes, if it doesn’t we will be prepared to do anything it takes”.
As for the possibility of joining politics, Sonam said that “as of now I have no interest because it is not very clean but if I have to, it would be a sacrifice on my part”.
While agreeing with her husband, Gitanjali said that none of them is interested, but “we are open to any and every possibility if the divine chooses us as an instrument for something in the future. But as of today, there are no plans because politics is not our dharma”.
That the experience of being thrown in jail and that too for a “crime”—that Sonam said is his constitutional right—is and cannot be a pleasant one. Obviously there was hardship, discomfort and a ‘O God, never again moment’.
Therefore, the obvious thing was to ask Sonam about the 170-long and dark days in jail. Hesitant to speak about the “ordeal that is over”, he said he does not want to dwell on the past, but when asked about that one learning and he said: “My room was infested with ants. This bothered me for the first few days and later I thought I could watch their behaviour and perhaps learn something. I would watch them carry the crumbs from my food; one ant would take it and when the other ant came I thought it would snatch it. But no, it would come and help her and carry it forward. So, also the other ants that followed. It was not about the self, but the community and collaboration”.
When Gitanjali met him the next time in jail, Sonam asked her to get him a book on ants because “ants taught me much more than I had ever learnt,” he said.
—The writer is an author, journalist and political commentator
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