Statehood protest takes violent turn in Ladakh, BJP office set ablaze in Leh, 4 killed in police firing

The Leh administration has restricted the assembly of four or more people as a precautionary measure.

The violence came ahead of talks scheduled between the Centre and the Leh Apex Body on October 6, after a gap of four months. Sources at the Centre said the government wanted Wangchuk to be kept out of the negotiations, seeing him as a hurdle in the negotiations.

Wangchuk, who said the people were frustrated as “next elections are about to happen and they (the Centre) are yet to fulfil promises made in the last elections”, claimed they were now expecting a high-level delegation from the Home Ministry to meet them in Ladakh on Thursday.

On Wednesday, a shutdown had been called by student and youth organisations in support of their demands for statehood and Sixth Schedule. The strike was called after a 72-year-old and a 62-year-old who had been on hunger strike along with Wangchuk over the issue fainted and had to be shifted to hospital.

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)

Addressing the press after the violence Wednesday, Wangchuk said thousands of protesters were sitting peacefully at the site of the fast, holding prayers and listening to speeches, when “a big group of young people broke away and marched out raising slogans”. He said he heard later that the youths had gone “on a rampage” and attacked offices, police vehicles and the BJP office.

Regretting the deaths in police firing, Wagchuk said they were still trying to ascertain the number of those wounded. He attributed the violence to “pent-up anger of the last five-six years”, referring to the protesters as “Gen Z”, and calling for restraint.

The Gen Z remark seemed to be a reference to the violent protests in Nepal recently led by youths, which led to the overthrow of the government.

Smoke billows out from a structure set ablaze by miscreants amid a massive protest and shutdown, in Leh, Ladakh, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025. The protest was held in support of the demand to advance the proposed talks with the Centre on extension of Sixth Schedule as well as statehood to Ladakh.(PTI Photo)

Police sources in Leh confirmed four deaths as security forces tried to disperse the crowd. A police officer told The Indian Express that 56 people were injured, and that “out of them, five were critically injured”. “Most of the people have bullet and pellet injuries.”

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah supported the protesters, saying Ladakh felt “betrayed” by the Centre, the same as J&K. “Ladakh wasn’t even promised Statehood, they celebrated UT status in 2019 & they feel betrayed & angry. Now try to imagine how betrayed & disappointed we in J&K feel when the promise of statehood to J&K remains unfulfilled even though we have gone about demanding it democratically, peacefully & responsibly,” Abdullah posted on X.

Former J&K CM and Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti said it was time the Centre moved beyond “crisis management”. “It’s time the Government of India undertakes a sincere and thorough appraisal of what has truly changed since 2019… Leh, a region long known for its peaceful and measured protests, is now witnessing a disturbing shift toward violent demonstrations,” she said.

Wangchuk said that while he understood the sentiments of the protesters, “this (the violence) was not the right way”, and that the battle needed to be waged with “peace and struggle”. He also said that the youths had been getting impatient. “They would tell us they had seen the results of the peaceful path taken by us, that they don’t believe in it… But we didn’t expect something like this.”

On calling off the hunger strike, Wangchuk said: “If we continue, we fear more people will fall seriously ill, there will be more anger and there could be an explosive situation… It can also bring instability on the borders of the country.”

The Kargil Democratic Alliance has also extended its sympathy to the protesters, saying the bandh reflected the “failure” of the Union Territory model.

—With ENS, Delhi, inputs

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