On October 2, Gitanjali J. Angmo, wife of the 59-year-old engineer-turned-teacher-turned-climate-activist Sonam Wangchuk, moved the Supreme Court seeking to know the whereabouts of her husband. Days ago, on September 26, Mr. Wangchuk was detained under the National Security Act (NSA), 1980, from his village Uleytokpo by the Ladakh police and sent to the Jodhpur central jail.
The education reformer, who inspired the Hindi movie 3 Idiots (2009), has been labelled by the police as the “ring-leader” of the September 24 violence in Leh city that led to the death of four persons and resulted in injuries to around 150 people.
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After Article 370 of the Constitution was read down by Parliament in 2019, Ladakh civil society groups have been protesting for constitutional safeguards such as Statehood and inclusion under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. The groups came together in 2020 to demand protection from outsiders, following which the government formed a high-powered committee (HPC) in January 2023. However, Mr. Wangchuk was roped in by the groups, and he soon became the face of protests in Ladakh.
Mr. Wangchuk used social media as well as conventional media to educate people about the happenings in Ladakh. He initially projected the protests as an attempt to save the fragile ecology. He highlighted that the proposed solar projects by big corporations could sound the death knell for the region. But the protests later attained a political tone.
