Leh Ladakh Protest | Bid to sabotage talks, mob was incited by Wangchuk: Centre

In Leh, Lt Governor Kavinder Gupta blamed “vested interests” for the violence in the Union Territory and promised action against those responsible.

“A curfew has been imposed as a precautionary measure. People have lost their lives here and I express my condolences to their families. All necessary measures will be taken to prevent more casualties,” Gupta said, addressing the people of Ladakh.

Describing the day’s events as heart-wrenching, he said what happened was not spontaneous and was the result of a conspiracy. “We will not spare those people who have spoiled the atmosphere here.”

“For the past few days, a hunger strike has been going on in Ladakh. And we know that the hunger strike is a part of a democratic system. But, for the past couple of days, the way people were being incited by comparing the situation with that of Nepal and Bangladesh (uprising). Some people said they will set everything on fire and kill people … This is against the democratic system,” he said.

Smoke billows out from the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) Office as it set on fire during a massive protest over the statehood demand and the inclusion of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule, in Leh on Wednesday. (ANI Video Grab)

The MHA, in its statement, said Wangchuk started a hunger strike on September 10, demanding statehood for Ladakh and its inclusion in the Sixth Schedule.

“It is well known that the Government of India has been actively engaged with Apex Body Leh and Kargil Democratic Alliance on the same issues. A series of meetings were held with them through the formal channel of the High-Powered Committee as well as sub-committee and multiple informal meetings with leaders,” the MHA said.

“The process of dialogue through this mechanism has yielded phenomenal results by increasing reservation for Ladakh’s Scheduled Tribe from 45% to 84%, providing one-third women reservation in the councils and declaring Bhoti and Purgi as official languages. With this, the process for recruitment to 1800 posts was also commenced,” it said.

“However, certain politically motivated individuals who were not happy with the progress made under HPC have been trying to sabotage the dialogue process,” the MHA said, adding that the next meeting of the HPC was scheduled for October 6, and meetings with Ladakh leaders were planned for September 25 and 26.

“The demands on which Mr Wangchuk was on hunger strike are an integral part of the discussion in the HPC. In spite of many leaders urging (him) to call off the hunger strike, he continued … misleading the people through provocative mention of Arab Spring-style protest and references to Gen Z protests in Nepal,” it said.

“On 24th September, at around 11.30 am, a mob instigated by his provocative speeches left the venue of the hunger strike and attacked a political party office as well as the government office of the CEC Leh. They also set these offices on fire, attacked the security personnel, and torched a police vehicle. The unruly mob attacked the police personnel in which more than 30 police/CRPF personnel were injured. The mob continued to destroy public property and attack police personnel. In self-defence, police had to resort to firing in which unfortunately some casualties were reported,” the MHA said, adding that the situation was brought under control by 4 pm.

“It is clear that the mob was incited by Shri Sonam Wangchuk through his provocative statements. Incidentally, amidst these violent developments, he broke his fast and left for his village in an ambulance without making serious efforts to control the situation,” the MHA said.

– With PTI from Leh

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