“I charge only Rs. 500 to ensure that yourRs. 10,000 shoes doesn’t become junk.”

The release of Sonam Wangchuk from Jodhpur Central Jail on March 14, marks more than the end of a detention; it is a moment that forces India to confront the uneasy balance between national security and civil liberty. Wangchuk, a 59-year-old climate...