Detained under the National Security Act (NSA), 1980 in Jodhpur Central Jail since September 26 last year, activist Sonam Wangchuk on Thursday denied exhorting his supporters to overthrow the government like Arab Spring and asserted his democratic right to criticise and protest.On behalf of Wangchuk’s wife Gitanjali Angmo, senior advocate Kapil Sibal told the Supreme Court that the police relied on a selective video to mislead the detaining authority.“Look at the video. What he says (according to the police) is if the government of India will not give statehood, he will overthrow the government like the Arab Spring. He does not say so. I will give the transcription (of the video),” Sibal told a Bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and PB Varale.The Arab Spring is a series of anti-government violent protests that spread across West Asia and North Africa between 2010 and 2018.The activist was detained on September 26, 2025 under Section 3(2) of the NSA, two days after protests demanding Ladakh’s statehood and the Sixth Schedule status turned violent, leaving four persons dead and nearly 100 injured.Angmo has challenged Wangchuk’s detention, terming it “illegal, arbitrary and unconstitutional”, saying the detention order violated her husband’s fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14 (right to equality), 19 (right to various freedoms), 21 (right to life and liberty) and 22 (Protection against arrest and detention in certain cases) of the Constitution.The Bench directed a medical examination of Wangchuk (59) by a specialist doctor after he complained of stomach issues due to water contamination. It directed the jail authorities to furnish Wangchuk’s medical report in a sealed cover by February 2 – the next date of hearing.Sibal refuted that Wangchuk had said in one interview that the people of Ladakh would not help the Indian Army during wars if the government did not help.“False, that is the problem with this case. They have misled the detaining authority. I have a link to the video itself where he is praising the government and the prime minister; the video makes specific reference to peaceful protest … Somebody told him (Wangchuk) Kargil wants to merge with Kashmir. He said, ‘Fine, if they want to join, they can join.’ There’s nothing relating to a plebiscite,” Sibal submitted.Sibal denied that Wangchuk made any derogatory remarks against Hindu gods, saying some IT cell falsely projected it. “The unedited version brings out the complete picture. It was meant to say that after liberating Ladakh from Kashmir, the Central Government failed to extend its promise of constitutional safeguards under the Sixth Schedule (of the Constitution). He says like Ram got Sita out of the clutches of Ravan and left her in the market, a similar thing the central government did with Ladakh.“He just made this allegorical statement on Ram. If these are statements on the basis of which one is detained, then we might as well stop speaking. His wife is a practising Hindu,” Sibal said.“A lot of investments of different kinds are coming in now. The same thing happened in Uttarakhand. There is the Aravalli matter now. We must protest. There’s nothing wrong with that. If Ladakh is to remain pristine, we don’t want any kind of activity that destroys the environment,” Sibal said.