New Delhi [India], October 15 (HBTV): The Superintendent of Central Jail in Jodhpur and the District Magistrate of Leh have submitted affidavits in the Supreme Court defending the detention of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk under the National Security Act, 1980 (NSA).
The District Magistrate stated that the detention order was passed on September 26 after due consideration of all material placed before him and based on credible inputs suggesting that Wangchuk was ‘indulging in activities prejudicial to national security.’
‘Wangchuk was lawfully detained under a lawful authority after arriving at a subjective satisfaction on the circumstances that prevailed where Sonam Wangchuk had been indulging in activities prejudicial to the security of the state, maintenance of public order and services essential to the community,’ the affidavit stated.
The affidavit further said that his detention followed violent protests in Ladakh over demands for statehood. It rejected allegations of illegal detention and stated that Wangchuk’s wife was promptly informed of his arrest by Leh Police and that his family was notified in time about his transfer to Jodhpur Central Jail.
It also informed the court that the grounds of detention were communicated to Wangchuk on September 29, within the five-day period specified under Section 8 of the NSA. He was medically examined both after his detention and upon arrival at Jodhpur Central Jail, and was found to be in good health and not under any medication.
In a separate affidavit, the Superintendent of Jodhpur Central Jail said that on October 4, Wangchuk’s lawyer Mustafa Haji and his brother Tseten Dorje were allowed to meet him for one hour. His wife, Gitanjali Angmo, along with advocate Sarvam Rithe Khare, also met him on October 7 for an hour.
‘Wangchuk was detained in a standard barrack in the general ward measuring 20 feet by 20 feet, where he continues to be detained till date and is the sole occupant of such prison barrack at present,’ the affidavit added.
Wangchuk was detained on September 26 and transferred to Jodhpur Central Jail in Rajasthan for allegedly inciting violent protests in Ladakh. He was booked under the NSA following unrest in Leh, in which four people were killed and 80 others injured.
The protesters have been demanding statehood for Ladakh and inclusion of the region under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
A habeas corpus plea filed by Wangchuk’s wife seeking his release stated that the detention was not genuinely related to national security or public order but aimed at silencing a respected environmentalist and social reformer for advocating democratic and ecological causes.
The petition argued that the activist’s protests were peaceful and Gandhian in nature, within the constitutional right to speech and assembly under Article 19. It stated that the charges were ‘baseless and floated with the sole object of defaming, maligning and discrediting his peaceful Gandhian movement’ to protect Ladakh’s ecology.
The plea further alleged that a ‘systematic campaign’ had been ‘unleashed against’ Wangchuk, suggesting ‘links with Pakistan and China.’
‘In particular, a blasphemous narrative suggesting links with Pakistan and China is being intentionally floated in certain quarters with the sole object of defaming, maligning and discrediting a peaceful Gandhian movement for the protection of Ladakh, its fragile ecology, its mountains, glaciers, and the livelihood of its people,’ it added.
Angmo also challenged Wangchuk’s transfer to Jodhpur Central Jail, over a thousand kilometres away from Ladakh, where the protests had taken place.
(ANI)