In an exclusive interview with India Today TV, Sonam Wangchuk's wife Gitanjali said that his arrest is illegal because he is in no way a threat to national security.
00:00Okay, let's turn to another of our special stories and newsmakers.
00:04Environmental activist from Ladakh, award-winning, is in jail, remember, for the last week,
00:10detained under the National Security Act, accused of triggering the protests that turned violent in Ladakh on September 24.
00:18Today, Sonam Vanchuk's wife, Gitanjali Angmo, moved the Supreme Court,
00:24asking that a habeas corpus petition be filed under Article 32, challenging his detention under the National Security Act and seeking his immediate release.
00:35In a petition, Angmo claims that she has had no contact with her husband for the last week,
00:41calling it a violation of rules and of his constitutional rights.
00:46He's been arrested, remember, and taken to a Jodhpur jail.
00:50She says she has not received a copy of the detention order, has no information on the grounds of detention.
00:56Only yesterday, she had written to President Draupadi Murmu.
00:59Now she's taken her case to the Supreme Court.
01:03She's my next newsmaker.
01:11And joining me now is another of our newsmakers tonight.
01:15Gitanjali Jain Angmo is Sonam Vanchuk's wife.
01:18She's also the co-founder of the Himalayan Institute of Alternatives in Ladakh.
01:24Appreciate you joining us, Gitanjali.
01:26You've gone and knocked on the door of the Supreme Court today,
01:30a week after your husband Sonam Vanchuk was detained, arrested under the National Security Act.
01:36Why do you believe that his detention, his arrest is illegal under the NSA?
01:44Yeah.
01:45So, thank you, Rajteet.
01:49His detention is illegal because he is in no way a threat to national security.
01:57He is a person who has worked very closely with the Indian Army.
02:03He has worked at the grassroots level for innovation.
02:07He has always represented India abroad with pride,
02:12be it through his Aisthup artificial glaciers or his passive solar heated buildings.
02:18So, such a person who has dedicated and devoted his life to the cause of education,
02:26environment, sustainability in India, in Ladakh, cannot ever be a threat for national security,
02:34especially when this very government has awarded our institute
02:39with the Best in Innovation for Passive Solar Homes,
02:44Scotch Award for the Aisthup artificial glaciers,
02:49for our work in Himalayan farmstays in ecotourism.
02:54So, how can the same person who, along with me as the co-founder,
03:02how can this person suddenly turn into being an anti-national,
03:07you know, when he was being awarded, not less than a year or two ago?
03:12Because the government, Gitanjali says that it was Sonam Vangchuk
03:22whose provocative speeches led to the violence that took place
03:27in which eventually, tragically, four people died,
03:30that he in some way was responsible for provoking that violence.
03:35It's your response to that, the violence that took place on the 24th of September.
03:41So, first of all, he immediately condemned the violence
03:45and he said that my peaceful method of protesting has failed
03:49and he called off his fast.
03:52And secondly, a person who has worked all his life
03:56for the upliftment of youth,
03:59for empowering them with education, with knowledge,
04:03cannot ever provoke them to go on a path
04:06which he never himself believes in.
04:09We've seen in the last five years
04:10that he has done all his anshans and fasts
04:15and padhyatras and marches
04:17in an extremely peaceful manner.
04:20So, a teacher,
04:21and he considered himself a good teacher above everything else
04:25because he has declined a lot of offers
04:28from all the political parties
04:29who wanted him to run for various positions
04:32because he wanted to always hold himself as a teacher first.
04:39So, a teacher always walks the path.
04:41If a teacher is talking about non-violence,
04:45he would never instigate violence
04:49or ask the youth to follow that path
04:52which he himself never believes in.
04:53So, you're saying...
04:55So, you're saying all...
04:58So, you're saying all the allegations
05:00that are being made about Sonam having a Pakistan link,
05:06the allegations that are being made
05:08that Sonam Wangchuk in some way
05:11was encouraging seditious behavior
05:14are all hogwash.
05:15Is that what you're saying?
05:16That you're challenging the government
05:18in this Supreme Court petition
05:19to prove that there is a Pakistan link,
05:22if at all, to Sonam Wangchuk
05:24because the DG in Ladakh
05:25tried to bring out a Pakistan link to the protests.
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