“If Sonam Wangchuk can’t join the march, I will represent him and lead that march,” Gitanjali Angmo, the wife of the climate activist, said on Saturday. Gitanjali, who visited Wangchuk for the first time since his hunger strike on Friday, has been leading the charge against the government after the activist was “forcibly removed” from Jantar Mantar and shifted to Safdarjung Hospital in a dramatic turn of events. She was also instrumental in securing Wangchuk’s release after he was detained for nearly five months following violent protests in Ladakh. It has brought Gitanjali into the national spotlight.
In fact, Gitanjali is Wangchuk’s second wife. The activist, who is believed to be the inspiration behind the character of Aamir Khan in ‘3 Idiots’, was first married to Rebecca Norman, an American citizen. However, the marriage ended in divorce.
WHO IS WANGCHUK’S WIFE GITANJALI ANGMO?
While Wangchuk has frequently found himself in the government’s crosshairs, Gitanjali has always maintained a low profile. A social entrepreneur and educationist, she is best known as the co-founder of the Himalayan Institute of Alternatives (HIAL) in Ladakh. The institute essentially focuses on solving real-world problems faced by communities living in Ladakh’s frigid conditions.
It focuses on developing green campuses, passive solar-heated buildings and other sustainable technologies. HIAL also developed solar-heated tents for the Army in 2021. The institute also provides fellowships and short-term courses. However, HIAL came under CBI scrutiny last year for alleged foreign funding violations.
Born to a Punjabi family in Odisha’s Balasore, Gitanjali completed her bachelor’s in physics from Fakir Mohan University. She then went on to pursue an MBA from Bhubaneswar’s Xavier Institute of Management. After completing her MBA, she worked in the corporate sector for 15 years, mostly in Denmark.
After returning to India, she focused on her entrepreneurial journey. She launched her own businesses, Pushan and Shanghai Power Projects Ltd, and also established a publishing house called Helios Books. In 2017, she founded HIAL with Sonam Wangchuk.
Usually reticent, Angmo opened up about her marriage in a 2025 interview with Brut. Angmo revealed that she met Wangchuk at an education conference. They connected instantly.
“It was interesting to see that we were finishing each other’s sentences. There was so much similarity in the way we wanted to work in education and life in general,” Angmo said.
Angmo is a woman of many talents. According to her LinkedIn profile, she is a black belt in karate and an accomplished Odissi and Russian ballet dancer. A Chevening scholar from the University of Oxford, Angmo is also a recipient of the Women Transforming India Award that was given by the government.
In her LinkedIn bio, Angmo calls herself a “spiritual seeker” with a deep interest in Indian spirituality.
PILLAR OF SUPPORT DURING DETENTION
Gitanjali first grabbed the spotlight with her unwavering support for Wangchuk when he was detained in September last year under the stringent National Security Act (NSA). The activist was kept at Jodhpur Central Jail.
Wangchuk was detained after violent protests in Ladakh over demands for statehood and inclusion under the Constitution’s Sixth Schedule (to protect tribal land and ecology) left four dead and over 50 injured. In fact, Wangchuk has held several protests and hunger strikes over the twin demands since Ladakh was made a Union Territory in 2019. Previously, it was part of Jammu and Kashmir.
During Wangchuk’s detention, Gitanjali emerged as his strongest pillar of support. She approached the Supreme Court challenging his prolonged detention – a move that is believed to have played a key role in the government releasing Wangchuk after 170 days in custody. She also wrote to the President seeking her intervention.
After Wangchuk’s release, Gitanjali posted an emotional message on X, detailing the exhausting ordeal for the family.
“My ordeal of making two trips every week for just a 60-minute meeting over the past five months has finally ended,” she wrote.
When Wangchuk started his latest hunger strike on June 28, seeking the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over a spate of paper leaks, Gitanjali stayed away from the protest site. Wangchuk had been on hunger strikes before as well.
Instead, she chose to espouse his cause by writing op-eds in newspapers. As Wangchuk’s health deteriorated on Day 20 of his hunger strike, Gitanjali visited him on Friday and urged him to call off the fast. However, Wangchuk did not relent.
‘WILL LEAD MARCH TO PARLIAMENT’
On Saturday, Gitanjali led the charge against the administration, claiming that Wangchuk was “forcibly removed” from the protest site. However, the Delhi Police said the decision was taken based on the High Court’s directions and on the advice of medical experts.
Throughout the day, she regularly posted updates on X on Wangchuk’s condition. In her first post, she urged doctors not to administer any oral or intravenous treatment to her husband without her consent. Her next post came minutes later, claiming that she was not being allowed to enter the hospital with her phone.
“Why are they not letting our phones inside? Why is there such heavy police deployment? It seems like this is not Safdarjung hospital, but Safdarjung prison,” Gitanjali said.
Later, she alleged a lack of transparency at Safdarjung, claiming the hospital was not allowing her to take a second opinion on Wangchuk’s health. “This lack of transparency is making us suspicious, and we have asked to be discharged immediately,” she tweeted.
Wangchuk was supposed to join a march, called by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), on July 20 to Parliament – the first day of the Monsoon session. Gitanjali said she would take the baton and lead the march on Monday.
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