Ten days after four people were killed in firing by security forces in Leh, Ladakh chief secretary Pawan Kotwal said that “the entire episode could have been avoided if some leaders had risen above personal and political ambitions by calling off the hunger strike, timely”.
Two days after protests in Leh turned violent with protestors setting fire to a police vehicle, climate activist Sonam Wangchuk was detained under the National Security Act (NSA) and remains incarcerated in the Jodhpur Central Jail since.
On Saturday, the CS said that of the 70 youth who were detained, “misled by some leaders for their personal and political gains”, 30 have been released while the rest are in judicial custody and shall be released, based on court orders.
“We will ensure that such youngsters are not put to any hardship and no misguided innocent person is implicated,” he said.
Kotwal added that the ongoing investigation would “definitely establish that certain leaders worked in a negative and destructive manner and played with the future of Ladakh.” He added that all the details of firing would also come out clearly during the investigation.
Emphasising that the government has been actively engaged with Ladakh leaders for talks through the High Powered Committee (HPC), Kotwal stated that even before the formal meeting of HPC scheduled on October 6, informal meetings were scheduled for September 25 and 26, 2025.
“With a premeditated approach, certain sections worked to derail the process, continued the hunger strike despite scheduled talks and misled the people thereby creating a law-and-order situation on 24th and subsequent unfortunate developments of loss of four lives. The investigating agencies have proofs for the same, which would come out clearly during the investigation,” he said without naming Sonam Wangchuk.
Stating that the process of dialogue through this mechanism has yielded “significant” results, the Ladakh CS stressed that the government would be “keen” to start the dialogue process soon.
He underscored that the entire episode “could have been avoided if some leaders had risen above personal and political ambitions by calling off the hunger strike, timely,” when the dates of 25th & 26th September for resuming the dialogue with the government, on the same agenda.
Kotwal added that the government has expressed its desire to have an “open and constructive dialogue” and never avoided any meetings.
“The land, resources, jobs and livelihood of the Ladakhis would remain protected. Government would continue to work with the people of Ladakh to protect the ecosystem as well as cultural identity,” he said.
Addressing key issues raised by the Apex Body Leh and Kargil Democratic Alliance earlier, Kotwal noted the increase in reservations for Ladakh Scheduled Tribe from 45 percent to 85 percent, providing one-third reservation to women in the hill councils and declaring Bhoti and Purgi as official languages for the UT of Ladakh.
On the issue of protections for land, he said that “all powers continue to rest with the respective LAHDCs and we have already commenced to make land laws people friendly.” He asserted that no powers of LAHDC had been taken away and that “nothing will happen without consultation and consent of the local community.”
