NEW DELHI: Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk on Tuesday said the people of Ladakh only wanted “to start a dialogue or to resume talks” with the Centre, days after his release from Jodhpur Central Jail following the revocation of his detention under the National Security Act.In his first public remarks since his release, Wangchuk described the Centre’s decision to revoke his detention as a “win-win” development. He further said the Centre’s outreach for a “constructive, meaningful dialogue” could help build trust and address the concerns of Ladakh.
Addressing a press conference alongside his wife Gitanjali J Angmo, he said, “As I said, they (Centre) have offered constructive, meaningful dialogue. This is all that we were struggling for, to start a dialogue. We had to struggle so much, walk from Leh to Delhi, go on anshans, go to jail, to exactly get that. If you see all the movements in Ladakh, they are appealing for starting the talks and dialogue process.”“Usually, you see people picking up guns and the government appealing for dialogue. Here, people are urging the government to start a dialogue,” he added.Wangchuk, who spent nearly six months in detention, said he had prepared himself for a longer stay and was ready to speak about his experiences.
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“I was waiting to come out (of the jail) either as we win in the court or after 12 months. I was very well prepared to spend 12 months and come out and share the horror stories of all the wrongs that happened to me and to her (Sonam Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali J Angmo). Right from how abruptly from my home I was, you know, bundled up and thrown into this jail, without any opportunity even to call my family or my lawyers for days, more than a week. Or of her, who could not even meet journalists to voice her anguish with heavy security positioning around the campus and how she slipped out into Delhi to knock on the doors of the court and how for two or three weeks there was a kind of cat and mouse chase on the streets of Delhi with her cars followed by people in cars and motorcycles. It was all a filmy scene…” he said.“It was a huge horror story of how it was made so difficult to send anything to my lawyers,” he added.The activist said that the jail, the staff, and the people there were very upright and very kind despite keeping to their laws and disciplines and so on. “I’m happy that I won’t have to go into those things, But now with this hand extended from the government, I’m spared from having to do any of those. I really hope that the dialogue process will go on. And only if they fail and we are compelled to again, appeal in other ways will we need to share those…” he said.Further reflecting on the broader outcome, Wangchuk said he was not looking for a personal victory but for a “win-win” situation for Ladakh.“I feel wonderful today after these two days of regaining my voice and unfurling my little wings and reorienting myself… I’m a little greedy person. A win was not enough for me. I was always looking for a win-win. A win would be just Sonam Wangchuk’s win,” he said.“What good is Sonam Wangchuk winning if Ladakh and the Himalayas and the causes he represents do not win? Therefore, we were looking for a win-win for the causes. Now, with the recent extension of hands by the government to build trust, as they have said, and to facilitate meaningful constructive dialogue. This is a great thing because this way Ladakh will also win and our cause will also win. So it will be truly a win-win. It will be a win-win-win also, because the government will come out looking better and our image in the world will be a little better and it will be even better win-win-win, if the Court also records a judgment in this case apart from revocation of the order itself so that it guides future executives and future policy makers about how to use and specially how not to use such laws as National Security Act…” he added.Wangchuk, 59, was detained on September 26 last year under the National Security Act following protests in Ladakh demanding statehood and inclusion under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. The protests were led by groups including the Leh Apex Body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance.The Centre revoked his detention with immediate effect, saying the move was aimed at fostering “peace, stability and mutual trust” in Ladakh and enabling dialogue with stakeholders. His release came just ahead of a protest call by the Leh Apex Body on March 16 and days before a scheduled hearing in the Supreme Court of India on a habeas corpus petition filed by his wife challenging his detention.Angmo also shared an emotional message on X after his release, describing the moment she informed him he would be free. She wrote about “writing the final letter to the jail superintendent” to seek permission to meet him and said she was relieved that his “ordeal of being inside the jail for 170 days” had finally ended.
