Sonam Wangchuk’s arrest follows violent protests in Ladakh; a woman detained in Assam found in Bangladesh.
Activist Sonam Wangchuk was arrested in Leh, two days after violent protests erupted in the region, resulting in the death of four individuals due to police firing. Wangchuk was taken into custody around 2:30 PM by a police team led by Ladakh’s Director General of Police, SD Singh Jamwal. The activist was scheduled to hold a press conference at the same time he was detained. The arrest followed allegations from the central government that Wangchuk’s “provocative statements” had incited the unrest earlier in the week. Despite the arrest, Wangchuk had previously expressed that he was unafraid of being taken into custody, claiming that authorities were attempting to use him as a scapegoat for the events that transpired.
In another incident, a 68-year-old Muslim woman named Sakina Begum from Assam, who had been detained by police in May, has been located in Dhaka, Bangladesh, as confirmed by her family. Begum was recognized in the Mirpur area of Dhaka by a crew from BBC Bangla, which subsequently reached out to her relatives. Originally from Sonpur village in Nalbari district, Begum was among hundreds taken into custody during a crackdown on declared foreigners. Although a foreigners tribunal had labeled her a foreigner in 2012, her name appeared on voter lists in both 2005 and 2008. Her family asserts that she is a native of Assam and does not understand or speak Bengali. Begum belongs to the Garia Muslim community, which the Assam government has designated as “indigenous.” She had previously spent five years in the Kokrajhar detention center but was released in 2019 following a Supreme Court ruling. However, she was detained again in May.
Meanwhile, in international news, United States President Donald Trump has declared a 100% tariff on imports of branded or patented pharmaceutical products. This new policy will be enforced unless the importing company establishes a manufacturing facility within the United States. The tariffs are set to take effect on October 1, with exemptions for companies that have already begun construction on manufacturing sites in the country. In 2024, India exported $8.7 billion worth of pharmaceuticals to the U.S., primarily consisting of generic products. Following the announcement, Indian pharmaceutical stocks experienced a decline of 2.6%. Although the tariff is not specifically directed at India, Trump has already implemented reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods and imposed additional levies on Russian oil purchases.
In legal matters, the Delhi High Court has ordered the payment of Rs 5 lakh in damages to TV Today Network due to defamatory posts made on X against the channel and its journalist, Rajdeep Sardesai. This ruling follows an interview aired by the network with actor Rhea Chakraborty in 2020. The court found the posts by social media user Anurag Srivastava to be “highly defamatory” and lacking substantiation, despite providing the defendant with ample opportunity to defend the claims. Srivastava employed derogatory language against Sardesai and alleged that Chakraborty had bribed him and the network for the interview, which was connected to a drugs case involving the late actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
