Activist Sonam Wangchuk’s wife Gitanjali J Angmo on Monday called for a change in India’s “grammar of politics”, criticising the Bharatiya Janata Party and Indian National Congress.
Event Context
Angmo said that her husband and herself had been given different labels by the BJP and Congress supporters, depending on the situation.
Earlier today, Wangchuk, who had been on an indefinite fast for 26 days before ending it on July 24 (Friday), was discharged from the hospital in Gurugram where he had been receiving treatment. He had earlier been admitted to the Safdarjung Hospital after being removed from the protest site by the Delhi Police. Angmo challenged this in court, following which the Delhi high court permitted Wangchuk to be taken to a private hospital of his choice.
After being discharged, Wangchuk paid his respects to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat, following which he addressed reporters and advocated for the protection of those who were exercising their democratic rights. “Following the conclusion of this 26-day fast and movement, I wanted to come to Rajghat first to remember Mahatma Gandhi, to express my gratitude to him and to tell the country that the path he showed remains just as relevant and appropriate today as it was a hundred years ago…” ANI news agency cited Wangchuk as saying.
He said the students’ protest achieving its objectives had “reassured” him that the “Gandhian method” was relevant not just in Ladakh, but on the national level too. He further said that no action must be taken against those who protested peacefully. “If mischievous elements are acting with malicious intent, we cannot say that absolutely nothing will happen. However, I want to make it very clear that peaceful protest is our constitutional right, and it must be respected,” he said.
Team Analysis
“When @Wangchuk66 was detained, the BJP IT cell called us anti-national, Chinese agents, foreign-funded, and every other label they could manufacture. Today, because we called the Congress’ protest at PM’s residence insincere, Congress trolls are calling us Sanghis, RSS and BJP stooges,” Angmo said in a post on X.
She said India needed more than a “change in government”, and called for reforming the country’s political culture.
“Different flags. Same playbook. The rot has infected our entire political culture. India needs more than just a change of government. It needs a change in the very grammar of politics, where disagreement is met with dialogue, not demonisation; where patriotism is measured by integrity, not party affiliation; and where truth matters more than tribal loyalty,” Angmo further added. In an interview with India Today last week, Angmo had termed Congress’s protest near Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence on July 21 “insincere.”
“The protest outside the PM’s house lacked sincerity. It would have been more sincere if it had been done by joining hands at Jantar Mantar,” Angmo had said, adding that the public “could not be fooled anymore” and that this was an “awakened India.”
Also Read | Sonam Wangchuk hits back at ‘deal with govt’ allegations after breaking 26-day fast: ‘Do I need to prove my sincerity?’
