Bhubaneswar: Ever since Sonam Wangchuk was arrested two days after violent protests in Leh over separate statehood demands, his wife, Gitanjali Angmo, has been outspoken about the false narratives being spun to tarnish the climate activist’s image. The voice defending Wangchuk, firm and unwavering, traces its roots back to Odisha. She was born as Gitanjali JB in Balasore to a Punjabi family.
Not just that she had pursued a graduation in physics from Fakir Mohan University and then completed a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a focus on Marketing and Finance from Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB). Reports claimed she often visited Bhubaneswar to practice Odissi.
Wangchuk was arrested on Friday by a police party led by Ladakh DGP S D Singh Jamwal. The Home Ministry blamed Wangchuk for making “provocative statements” that led to Wednesday’s violence. But the climate activist and Gitanjali had been denying such allegations.
Here’s what Gitanjali has said so far:
- “He (Sonam Wangchuk) was treated like a criminal without any reason,” she told The Print. “They have picked everything out of context and are trying to defame Sonam Wangchuk. The whole world has seen that he is a Gandhian, he isn’t a threat to the public but is a celebrated hero,” she told ThePrint in an interview on Saturday.
- She has rejected the Ladakh police’s interpretation that Wangchuk “provocatively” asked people to wear masks at the protest. She claimed Wangchuk had said so apparently because of a new strain of Covid and wanted to warn people against Covid.
- Speaking about a clip of Wangchuk speaking in Ladakhi about protests in Nepal, Sri Lanka and other countries, she claimed that “the video was taken out of context”.
- “All he is saying is that if the government isn’t responsive to the needs of the people, then the natural reaction is revolution, which we can see is happening in other countries, He is urging the government to be responsive and then also says that if a person’s life is needed for it, then let it be his life,” she added in her interview to The Print.
- “Today, more than his wife, it has pained me extremely as an Indian, as he was a person who was bringing pride to our country; an internationally acclaimed educationist, innovator, climate activist who dedicated his entire life to work for the country. He is a patriot who worked to make the living conditions of the Indian army better and had discouraged people from reading Chinese books and using Chinese products,” she told The Wire.
- In the same interview to The Wire, she adds: “And yet, he is termed an anti-national and charged under the NSA. We knew they would be doing something like this [taking him far away from Ladakh] to make it inconvenient. He will be defended by the best lawyers of the country, but that he has been accused of being anti-India actually speaks more about the conscience of our leaders than him.”
- Referring to the India-Pakistan Asia Cup Final, she wrote on X: “If India can play cricket with Pakistan, why can’t one of its heroes, (Sonam Wangchuk), attend a UN conference there?”
- Earlier, she had shared a video clip in which, she said, Wangchuk was speaking about climate change and praising PM Narendra Modi’s initiatives.
- She claimed her husband was speaking at the event titled Breathe Pakistan’.
- She had claimed that the security forces were responsible for the statehood protest turning violent in Leh.
