‘Release Sonam Wangchuk,’ says farmer group in Maharashtra’s Miraj

A farmers’ body in Miraj, a small town of Maharashtra, has passed a resolution seeking the immediate release of environmentalist and educationist Sonam Wangchuk. Shetkari Sanghatana, a farmers’ organisation, convened a meeting in Miraj in Sangli district, and condemned the decision of the Union Government to keep the activist behind bars on charges of sedition. The organisation will also put up hoardings in several villages, seeking Mr. Wangchuk’s release.

Mr. Wangchuk was detained under the National Security Act on September 26, 2025, two days after violent protests demanding Statehood and Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh left four people dead and 90 injured in the Union Territory. The Supreme Court is currently hearing a plea filed by Mr. Wangchuk’s wife, Gitanjali Angmo, against his detention under the stringent NSA. The Central government has said it could not release Mr. Wangchuk on health grounds.

“The government is acting ungrateful and wrong. The BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) had itself promised in its 2019 manifesto that it would provide separate Statehood to Ladakh as well. Sonam Wangchuk was only demanding something that was already promised. We appeal to the BJP that the government should release him immediately. We also appeal that all social organisations should come together to seek the release of Sonam Wangchuk,” Kalidas Apet, working president of the Shetkari Sanghatana, told The Hindu on Monday (February 16, 2026).

During its executive meeting in Miraj, Shetkari Sanghatana’s president Raghunathdada Patil introduced the proposal. All the present farmers supported the motion. Before that, farmers’ rights activist Amar Habib, a special invitee to the meeting, provided a brief background, and spoke of Mr. Wangchuk’s social work.

“He is a man who built solar powered tents for our jawans. He is himself the son of a soldier. He has taken such good care of our soldiers of the Indian Army. To call such a man a traitor is not just being ungrateful, but also agitating. His only demand is that the government should keep its promise,” Mr. Apet said.

When asked if the association had any links to Mr. Wangchuk, he said that the farmers were touched by Mr. Wangchuk’s gesture for jawans. The farmers’ body would appeal to the people to hit the streets to demand Mr. Wangchuk’s release, Mr. Apet said.