Gitanjali J Angmo, Sonam Wangchuk’s wife, is set to lead the Cockroach Janta Party’s march to Parliament today, July 20, after the activist was forcefully hospitalised by the Delhi Police on Saturday.
Event Context
Wangchuk is on Day 23 of his indefinite fast. He demands Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation for irregularities in the exam system and student suicides.
Before joining HIAL, she worked in renewable energy, healthcare, education, technology and business consulting. She was director at WinDForce Management Services, chaired AUM Hospitals, and headed KC High School in Chennai.
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Earlier, she served as director at Pushan Projects and headed Lister Technologies’ European operations. She started her career at Deloitte.
She also teaches Vedanta and the Bhagavad Gita.
Angmo received the Women Transforming India National Award from the Government of India. She is trained in Odissi, Russian ballet and karate, and holds a black belt.
She holds an MBA from Xavier Institute of Management (XIM), Bhubaneswar, and a bachelor’s degree from Fakir Mohan University, Balasore.
On July 18, Wangchuk was forcibly removed from Jantar Mantar by the Delhi Police and taken to Safdarjung Hospital. They cited health concerns and a high court order regarding his indefinite hunger strike.
Questioning this, Angmo alleged that neither she nor her husband had been informed before he was moved.
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The court said Wangchuk was not under detention, his family had access to him and doctors were monitoring his health. It sought a status report in three days and posted the matter for July 24.
Wangchuk, in a handwritten note from the hospital, claimed he was “illegally detained,” at Safdarjung Hospital, “where my freedom of movement, speech and all communication are restricted.”
The plea was filed by Gitanjali Angmo, who sought his transfer to a private hospital, unrestricted access for his personal doctors and lawyers, and alleged she was not receiving complete information about his health.
Angmo has again moved the Delhi High Court against the judge’s refusal to shift him to a private hospital, ANI reported on Monday.
The appeal says that the order violates Wangchuk’s rights under Articles 19 and 21, including his right to choose his treatment and continue his protest. Angmo’s legal team said it would seek an urgent hearing before the division bench on Monday.
Team Analysis
“He is still on hunger strike. If Sonam cannot march to Parliament, I will lead the march. The march will definitely happen,” Angmo told reporters on Sunday outside Safdarjung Hospital. Track the July 20 CJP march here
She founded TransformIndia in 2020 and has run The Helios Books since 2009. She was a Chevening Fellow at the University of Oxford in 2021-22.
Match Outlook
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“Sonam Wangchuk was brought here from the Jantar Mantar site without informing him or without informing me. Just yesterday evening, doctors from Safdarjung Hospital had checked him, and all his vitals were normal. But now they’re telling us his potassium has dropped and it’s life-threatening,” she told reporters on Saturday. She alleged that hospital authorities had not shown the medical report despite repeated requests.
Wangchuk would end his hunger strike on Monday if political leaders visited him at Safdarjung Hospital and assured him that they would raise the issue of education accountability during the ongoing Parliament session, his wife Gitanjali Angmo said on Sunday.
The Delhi High Court on Sunday refused to order activist Sonam Wangchuk’s immediate transfer from Safdarjung Hospital to a private facility, saying no interim relief was required.
