New Delhi: Ladakhi climate activist Sonam Wangchuk has completed over 100 days of detention in a Jodhpur jail under the stringent National Security Act (NSA). Wangchuk was detained on September 26 last year after a peaceful protest in Ladakh demanding statehood and Sixth Schedule protections turned violent. Four people were shot and 90 injured.The matter was last heard by the Supreme Court on December 8 with the next hearing set for December 15. However, the matter could not be taken up due to paucity of time and the next hearing on the appeal by his wife, Gitanjali Angmo, was listed for January 7.“It’s been a challenging time with extreme stress. For the first time I was handling an issue of this magnitude and you’re taking on the Union of India, at loggerheads with the top two people of this country,” Angmo told the Indian Express. While the maximum detention period under the NSA is 12 months, Angmo said that the government need not have taken this long. “They need not have taken 100 days to decide this matter,” she said, adding that she had flagged multiple delays on the government’s part. “For them it’s another day but for Sonam it means, another week, another month,” Angmo said.Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk’s wife Gitanjali Angmo with Advocates Kapil Sibal (left), Vivek Tankha (second from right) and Sarvam Ritam Khare (right)Angmo also noted the support she received from various quarters and said, “tremendous goodwill the people have for Sonam and for our institute and for us… the grassroots support, including in the jail”, along with pro bono support from senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Vivek Tankha, the paper reported.Talking about the disruption at the Himalayan Institute of Alternative Learning (HIAL), the institute co-founded by the couple, Angmo said, “I am not just busy in the Supreme Court case, there are also summons and queries from the IT department, the ED, the GST department — I’m handling all of that and then remotely also guiding HIAL. There is a second line of leadership that is holding the fort very well.”Wangchuk’s lawyer Mustafa Haji said on Monday, “What is his crime? Reminding the government of its own promise of Sixth Schedule protection and constitutional empowerment of the people of Ladakh. The government of the day has miserably failed to understand Ladakh and its peace-loving people.”In solidarity with Wangchuk, the Apex Body Leh (ABL) and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) have made the activist’s release a key condition for holding talks with the Union government on statehood and Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh. The bodies have also sought amnesty for all those detained after the September 24 protest.KDA representative Sajjad Kargili remarked on the Union government’s apathy towards the detainees and said, “For the last three months, we have sought release of all detainees and compensation for the deceased, in the hope that the government will display wisdom and sensibility. However, so far, the government has been indifferent.”Kargilli said that the KDA and ABL have jointly submitted their draft case for statehood and other demands to the Union home ministry. “We were told that the process of talks will be taken further once this draft is submitted but the government does not appear to be viewing this with seriousness. The Union government should not push the people of Ladakh to the wall.”On December 8, Wangchuk’s plea to virtually access the court proceedings in the apex court was opposed by the Union government saying that granting such access would create an “unhealthy precedent” by prompting other “convicts” to demand similar allowances.The Union government also opposed Wangchuk’s plea to virtually appear in court.