BJP office torched, Ladakh tense, several injured in clashes
The Modi government is set to hold fresh talks with Ladakh’s key groups on October 6.
A BJP office was torched while the situation in Leh town turned tense amid stone-pelting, teargas, and baton charges.
Protests turned violent during a shutdown called by the Leh Apex Body (LAB), a coalition of political, religious, and civil society groups pressing for statehood and Sixth Schedule protections for the Union Territory.
What had started as a show of anger over the Centre’s delay in holding “result-oriented” talks eventually spiralled. LAB’s youth wing had launched a 35-day hunger strike earlier this month; two participants ended up in hospital, triggering calls for Tuesday’s shutdown. Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who ended his own 15-day hunger strike even as clashes intensified, pleaded with supporters not to let the movement slide into chaos.
Authorities later invoked Section 163 of the BNSS, prohibiting public gatherings of more than five people.
Locals told The Hindu that violence broke out when the police tried to disperse the LAB protesters assembling outside the BJP office. “There were reports of stone pelting outside the BJP office. The police used teargas shells to disperse the protesters. Several vehicles were also set on fire during the clashes between the BJP supporters and the LAB activists. The police have not issued any statement on what sparked violence outside the BJP office.”
While multiple reports have indicated injuries, there is no official confirmation of the number of those injured so far.
Talks with Centre and media silence
The abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and the creation of Ladakh as a union territory in 2019 has been followed by calls for Ladakh’s inclusion under the Sixth Schedule, which provides tribal-majority regions with legislative and financial powers through autonomous district councils. The demand carries particular weight here, given that over 90 percent of Ladakh’s population belongs to Scheduled Tribes.
Meanwhile, the Centre is set to hold fresh talks with Ladakh’s key groups, the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), on October 6.
After the violence on Tuesday, Amit Malviya, national convenor of the BJP’s IT cell, alleged that Phuntsog Stanzin Tsepag, Congress councillor for Upper Leh Ward, was “rioting” in Ladakh and “instigating the mob and participating in violence that targeted the BJP office and the Hill Council.” He shared a few videos and a picture of the protests and wrote, “Is this the kind of unrest Rahul Gandhi has been fantasising about?”
PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti appealed to the Centre to undertake “a sincere and thorough appraisal of what has truly changed since 2019.”
Mufti emphasised that the protest didn’t erupt in the Kashmir Valley, which is considered the epicentre of unrest, but from the heart of Ladakh, “known for its peaceful and measured protests”.
“It is imperative that the Government move beyond day to day crisis management and address the root causes of this discontent urgently and transparently,” she said.
Meanwhile, many have questioned the silence within sections of the mainstream media over the issue.