‘No transparency, trust’ in Safdarjang hospital: Wangchuk’s wife wants him moved to medical centre of ‘our choice’

4 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jul 18, 2026 03:53 PM IST

Educationist and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk's wife, Gitanjali J Angmo outside Safdarjund Hospital, Delhi where Wangchuk is admitted. (Photo: ANI)

Written by Tabshir Shams

Gitanjali Angmo, wife of activist Sonam Wangchuk, said on Saturday afternoon that nothing should be given to her husband orally or intravenously without her consent.

She said that doctors who have been attending to Wangchuk through the period of his fast at Jantar Mantar were being denied access to him, and demanded that the activist should be allowed to go to a medical facility of his choice.

“This morning, without informing Sonam or me, he was forcibly taken from the protest site (at Jantar Mantar) to Safdarjung hospital. Yesterday (Friday) evening, doctors from Safdarjung checked on Sonam Wangchuk and found his vitals to be normal. His potassium was 4.3 (milliequivalents per litre); right now they are telling us it is 2.9, which is life-threatening. We have asked the doctors for his reports, which they have not shared,” Angmo told reporters outside Safdarjung hospital around 1 pm.

“We do not want anything to be given to him orally or through IV (intravenously) without my consent. There is a problem of trust, and a lack of transparency. Secondly, why are they not letting our phones inside (the hospital building)? Why is there such heavy police deployment? It seems like this is not Safdarjung hospital, but Safdarjung prison,” she said.

Wangchuk’s 20-day hunger strike had “recast the image of Gen Z”, Angmo said. “Earlier they were lamented, but Gen Z has shown how a peaceful protest can be conducted… Sonam Wangchuk joined this protest because the demand for a clean and competent education system is just, and should be met,” she said.

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Angmo said that the march planned by Wangchuk on the first day of Parliament’s Monsoon Session on Monday would also take place in cities across the country, and that she would represent the activist if he was unable to join himself.

“The protest so far has happened without violence, so they have no reason to stop the march on Monday. The march will not only take place in Delhi, but in various cities across India. And if Sonam’s health does not permit it, I will represent him,” she said.

In a letter to the Medical Superintendent of Safdarjung hospital, Angmo asked for her husband to be discharged so that he could be taken to a different medical facility.

“We want Sonam Wangchuk shifted to a medical centre of our choice. We asked your team to share his reports with us, digitally or physically, and they refused. The doctors who have been monitoring him for the past 20 days are not being allowed to meet him. This lack of transparency has shaken our trust in your hospital. Therefore, we have decided to shift Mr. Wangchuk to a medical centre of our choice. Kindly complete the discharge formalities at the earliest,” she wrote.

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On July 15, the Delhi High Court had directed the central government to ensure that Wangchuk’s health be monitored on a daily basis by government doctors.

“We would like the person (Wangchuk) to be medically checked by government doctors and intervene depending on the medical report. Depending [on Wangchuk’s medical condition], please intervene immediately. Life is precious,” Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya had said.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, counsel for the Centre, who had earlier told the court that “sometimes some private doctors” check on Wangchuk, had said that he had no objection to the court’s directive.