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Is India really free? Sonam Wangchuk's wife draws parallels with British rule
Gitanjali J Angmo, wife of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, accused the Union home ministry of "misusing" the Ladakh Police.
Gitanjali J Angmo, wife of recently detained climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, posed a serious question about the state of freedom in India as she condemned the recent police crackdown in Ladakh. She also compared the situation in the Union Territory to that of "British-ruled India."
J Angmo, who is also the CEO of the Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, accused the Union home ministry of "misusing" the Ladakh Police.
"Is India really free? In 1857, 24,000 Britishers used 135,000 Indian sepoys to oppress 300 million Indians under orders from the Queen. Today, a dozen administrators are misusing 2400 Ladakhi police to oppress and torture 3 lakh Ladakhis under the orders of the MHA," Gitanjali wrote on X.
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Angmo's criticism of the MHA and the police comes amid curfew in Leh and police firing as a response to the violence on September 24, which later led to the detention of her husband.
Wangchuk was reportedly detained under the National Security Act (NSA) after participating in ongoing protests demanding constitutional safeguards for Ladakh, including implementation of the Sixth Schedule.
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"Whatever the DGP is saying, he has an agenda. They don't want to implement the 6th Schedule under any circumstances and want to make someone a scapegoat," she alleged.
Allegations of political targeting
On the allegations that they attended a climate change conference organised by the United Nations and a Pakistani media outlet.
She said, "This is absolutely wrong and false, we condemn it to the core. A narrative is being formed to frame someone. When the UT government was buying Chinese tablets, he (Wangchuk) was talking about tackling China not with bullets but with a wallet. How can such a person be anti-national?"
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"If India plays cricket with Pakistan, does that make our players ISI agents?" she asked pointedly. "It was a scientific conference on Himalayan glaciers, not a political summit. This is character assassination, plain and simple."
Meanwhile, Ladakh Lieutenant Governor (LG) Kavinder Gupta emphasised that the Central government is working to "fulfil all the hopes of Ladakh" and expressed hope that the "matter will be resolved soon".
(with PTI inputs)
