Climate Activist Sonam Wangchuk Challenges NSA Detention in Supreme Court
Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk presented videos and transcripts of his alleged inflammatory speech and interview to the Supreme Court on Thursday, asserting that he was misquoted and that edited videos were circulated by a certain IT cell. These materials had been labeled as anti-national and served as grounds for his detention under the National Security Act.
Misleading Statements and Misquoted Content
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Wangchuk's wife, challenged the detention before Justices Aravind Kumar and P B Varale. He argued that the activist never spoke of overthrowing the government, disrespected any Hindu goddess, discussed a plebiscite in Kashmir, or claimed that Ladakhis would not support the Indian Army during war. Sibal emphasized that these malicious and misleading statements, which Wangchuk never uttered and were debunked by fact-checkers, were incorrectly relied upon by the detaining authority.
Wangchuk was detained in September and has remained in custody since then. Sibal highlighted that the activist has been holding protests to protect the ecology and environment of Ladakh, and he stressed that speaking against a government cannot be termed as an act against the country or anti-national.
Context and Democracy
He had said he will not allow violence to take place. The 6th schedule was a promise given by a political party. It was given in 2020. If in 2025 he says fulfil it before elections then what's wrong with it? Sibal questioned. He further argued that anti-government sentiment is not a security threat to the country. I can criticise the govt. That's what democracy is about. And part of that is peaceful protests, marches and criticising the govt, he added.
By reading from the transcripts of Wangchuk's speech and interviews, Sibal aimed to establish that some IT cell took a small clip and placed it in a different context to spark controversy. A detaining authority relying on a statement must rely on the entire statement and cannot rely on a sentence or two...The whole detention order is based on excerpts, out of context, misleading, false, thereby suggesting a selective approach, malafide in nature, to ensure that I am detained, Sibal stated.
Correct Translations and Full Picture
Regarding the alleged statement about overthrowing the government, Sibal directed the bench to review the transcript. The correct translation is - I say if the govt does not have affection for citizens, care for its environment, then such a govt is an obstacle in the progress of the nation. He says I too can bring change. We all need to be prepared to save mother Ladakh and mother India. What is wrong in this? he explained.
On the accusation of disrespecting a goddess, Sibal clarified, The unedited version brings out a complete picture. It was meant to say that after liberating Ladakh from Kashmir, the central govt failed to extend its promise of constitutional safeguards under the 6th Schedule. He says like Rama got Sita from the clutches of Ravana and left her in the market, the central govt did a similar thing with Ladakh.
Sibal also noted that Wangchuk had praised the government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi multiple times on international platforms and never spoke against the country. He argued that these statements were ignored, while selective and out-of-context quotes were considered for the detention.
