Leh, September 24: In view of the seriousness of the agitation that turned violent during the Leh bandh on Wednesday, the Central Government has invited some representatives from Ladakh to the national capital, New Delhi, for a meeting on October 6.
Representatives of the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) have been invited to this important meeting to be held at the Union Home Ministry. Their demands related to Ladakh are likely to be discussed.
It is noteworthy that the people of Leh, led by social activist and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who were peacefully protesting to fulfill their four demands, started the protest on Tuesday.
Today, the protesters resorted to violence, setting fire to the Ladakh Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office building and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) vehicles.
Meanwhile, police attempted to quell the violent protests, but the crowd failed to control them, leading to clashes between them. Police used tear gas and lathicharge to control the crowd. Protesters pelted stones at police, injuring several police officers and some protesters. Police subsequently arrested some of the protesters.
The protest was held in support of social activist and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who had been on a hunger strike for the past 15 days. Under his leadership, the people of Ladakh have been agitating for four key demands from the central government: granting Ladakh full statehood, including Ladakh in the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution to protect the social, cultural, and land rights of local tribal communities, two Lok Sabha seats for Ladakh, and granting Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the Ladakhi tribes.
Following the violence, Sonam Wangchuk broke his hunger strike and appealed to the protesters to maintain peace. He said, “This is a sad day for Ladakh. For five years we were walking on a peaceful path, today it is sad to see violence and arson. I appeal to the youth to stop violence, it will weaken our movement. The administration should also stop firing and repression. We are stopping fasting and protests, but our demands still stand.”
It is noteworthy that on August 5, 2019, after the abrogation of Article 370, Ladakh was deprived of state rights and given the status of a Union Territory, but the residents here are unhappy with the change of government and have started demanding political rights and constitutional protection.
After Leh, the wave of protests has now spread to Kargil. Sajjad Kargali, a member of the Kargil Democratic Alliance, has announced that Kargil will be completely shut down on Thursday. He says it’s important to send a strong message to Delhi that Ladakh will not wait any longer. Women, students, and youth are participating in the protests in large numbers. The local administration has tightened security in sensitive areas and deployed a large number of additional security forces.