The ongoing protests demanding full statehood for Ladakh and inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution turned violent today. Till now, these protests were going on under the banner of a series of peaceful hunger strikes led by climate activist Sonam Wangchuk. But today, large-scale violence was witnessed.
SNPNEWS.IN News Update Sep 25: On August 24, the ongoing protests demanding full statehood for Ladakh and inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution took a violent turn. In fact, this movement, led by environmentalist and social activist Sonam Wangchuk, is being held in protest against the 2019 bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir and the creation of Ladakh as a Union Territory (UT) (removal of Articles 370 and 35A).
The government had promised at that time that the status of a full state would be restored if the situation in the region improved, which has not been fulfilled even after 6 years.
The youth wing of LAB had started a 35-day hunger strike from 10 September 2025. A large number of students and youth were involved in this protest. Environmentalist Sonam Wangchuk had been on a hunger strike again for the last 15 days. Of the youth who were on a hunger strike in support of Sonam Wangchuk, the condition of 2 became critical on 23 Sep. LAB held a shutdown and march in the entire Leh on 24 September (led by the youth). A large number of youth protesters participated in this shutdown.
The youth protesting during the march turned violent as their demands were not met. The protesting youth pelted stones at the BJP’s Leh office and set it on fire. A CRPF vehicle and a police van were also set on fire during the violence. The police responded with tear gas, lathi charge and baton charge. 4-5 people died and 50-70 were injured during the violence and there are reports of damage to shops and government property around the protest site.
Following the violence, curfew was imposed in Leh under Section 163 of the Indian Civil Security Code (ICSC). There is a complete ban on gatherings of more than 5 people, and rallies cannot be held without permission. The Ladakh Festival has been cancelled.
After the violence, Wangchuk said:
“This is a sad day for Ladakh. We were on the path of peace for five years. We went on a hunger strike, walked from Leh to Delhi. Today we are seeing the message of peace fail. There is violence, firing and arson. I appeal to the young generation of Ladakh to stop this violence. We are breaking our fast (hunger strike), stopping the protests.”
Sonam Wangchuk added, “Some people here were on a hunger strike for 35 days. Yesterday, two of them became ill and were admitted to the hospital in a very serious condition. This has caused a lot of anger among the people and today a bandh has been declared in the entire Leh. During this, thousands of youth came out on the streets. It was a kind of ‘Gen Z‘ revolution.”
“They (youth) have been unemployed for five years. They are being kept out of jobs on one pretext after another and Ladakh is not being provided security. Today there is no democratic platform here.”
Sonam Wangchuk has appealed to the youth not to resort to violence under any circumstances.
In fact, the protesting organizations and LAB had termed the government’s offer of talks on October 6 as a ‘long overdue’ promise, after which a bandh was called on September 24 after the condition of the youth sitting on hunger strike became critical, during which violence was witnessed. There is a risk of further escalation of tension after the violence amid heavy deployment of security forces.
The elections for the Leh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC Leh) were held in 2020 in which the BJP won. Advocate Tashi Gyalsan was made the chairman by the BJP. The LAHDC elections were scheduled to be held in October 2025, before which the violence that took place today has made the situation in the Leh region extremely worrying, and in view of the situation in the region, the talks scheduled by the Center on October 6 have become extremely important.