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The Supreme Court will hear the plea by activist Sonam Wangchuk's wife against his detention today (06 October, 2025) over his arrest after the mass protests in Leh. Wangchuk was arrested in Ladakh last month after the violent protests in the hill town and was shifted to Jodhpur jail, where he has been booked under the strict National Security Act (NSA). The habeas corpus petition under Article 32 of the Constitution was submitted on October 2, after Wangchuk had been arrested on September 26.
Wangchuk had been arrested after protests in Leh for statehood had turned violent on September 24, with casualties. Protesters also burned the headquarters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) there. The authorities say that Wangchuk was instrumental in stirring up the demonstrations.
A few days following his detention, the Ladakh government made a statement that he had repeatedly made use of the term "self-immolation" in his public addresses, equating it with protest activities in Tibet, a line of rhetoric that officials say threatened public order seriously.
The government confirmed that the "grounds of detention" were legally served on Wangchuk, who is still detained under the NSA a law permitting preventive detention in national security or public order-related cases.
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Protestors who were calling for statehood fought with the police on September 24 in Leh town. Police fired to disperse protestors, during which four individuals lost their lives and some others got injured. Curfew was clamped and internet shut down as the authorities held Wangchuk responsible for the violence.
The Union Home Ministry stated that mob violence in Ladakh due to the demand for full statehood was spearheaded by Wangchuk's "provocative statements." "On 24th September, around 11:30 AM, a mob incited by his inflammatory speeches after attending the hunger strike venue attacked a political party office and the CEC Leh Government office. They also set these offices ablaze, assaulted the security personnel, and set the police vehicle on fire," the MHA statement added.
The government also revoked the FCRA registration of his NGO, the Students Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh, on charges of 'repeat' violations of the law that controls foreign funding for non-governmental organizations. The NGO is about three decades old and is engaged in Ladakh for alternative education, the environment, and youth empowerment programs.
Wangchuk urged the people of Ladakh to be peaceful and united and go ahead with the current struggle for statehood in the Gandhian spirit of non-violence and called for an independent judicial probe. Wangchuk sent across the message through Leh Apex Body's legal advisor Haji Mustafa, who accompanied the activist's older brother, Ka Tsetan Dorjey Ley, to meet him at Jodhpur jail in Rajasthan on Saturday.
On the other hand Mustafa shared Wangchuk's "message" on his individual via social media platforms, such as X and Facebook, on Sunday after meeting the activist. I am doing fine, both in mind and body, and thank all of them for their concern and blessings. My deepest sympathy to the families of those individuals who lost their lives and my blessings to the individuals who are injured and are arrested," Wangchuk said.
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