Advisory board holds hearing for detained activist Sonam Wangchuk at Jodhpur Central Jail

Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali J. Angmo, also presented her case before the board’s chairman and two other members during the nearly three-hour hearing

Jodhpur: A three-member advisory board constituted by the Leh administration on Friday held a hearing at Jodhpur Central Jail for Ladakhi education reformer and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who is currently detained under the National Security Act (NSA).

Sonam Wangchuk, a Ramon Magsaysay awardee known for his work in sustainable education and environmental innovation, was detained on September 26.

Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali J. Angmo, also presented her case before the board’s chairman and two other members during the nearly three-hour hearing. Board chairman, former justice M.K. Hanjura, along with members Principal District and Sessions Judge, Leh, Manoj Parihar, and Principal District and Sessions Judge, Kargil, Spalzes Angmo, were present.

No official information was released about what transpired during the hearing till Friday evening.

A day earlier, Gitanjali wrote in a post on X: “The advisory board that would hear Wangchuk’s representation tomorrow at Jodhpur Central Jail comprises Justice M.K. Hanjura (Retd.), Judge, High Court J&K and Ladakh as Chairman, Manoj Parihar, Principal District and Sessions Judge, Leh, and Ms. Spalzes Angmo, Principal District and Sessions Judge, Kargil. I will be present at the proceedings as Sonam Wangchuk’s ‘friend’ that law allows. I have full trust in the advisory board to stand for truth and justice!!”

Gitanjali had accused the agencies of stalking her and violating her privacy. In an affidavit, she also cited surveillance during her jail visits, including the recording of conversations by the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) and constables.

Wangchuk, a Ramon Magsaysay awardee known for his work in sustainable education and environmental innovation, was detained on September 26 under the NSA following protests in Leh that turned violent two days earlier, leaving four civilians dead and several others injured. Authorities alleged that his speeches, in which he referred to “self-immolation” as a form of protest, posed a threat to public order.

Angmo’s petition before the Supreme Court calls the detention “illegal” and accuses officials of unleashing a “systematic and false campaign” to malign her husband’s peaceful, Gandhian movement for protecting Ladakh’s fragile ecology. It asserts that portraying environmental activism as “anti-national” sets a dangerous precedent and that Wangchuk’s work has consistently contributed to national unity and supported the Indian Army through innovations such as high-altitude shelters.

Wangchuk, who is on a hunger strike, has said he is prepared to remain in jail until an independent judicial inquiry is ordered into the killings during the Leh protest. In a letter from Jodhpur jail, released by advocate Mustafa Haji on October 5, he urged the people of Ladakh to continue their movement peacefully “in the true Gandhian way of non-violence.”