Leh under Tight Security
Leh, Sept 26 – The statehood movement in Ladakh took a dramatic turn as police arrested activist Sonam Wangchuk on Friday, just two days after violent clashes in Leh left four youth dead and dozens injured.
His arrest came minutes before he was to address the media, effectively silencing the voice that had spearheaded the region’s demand for statehood and Sixth Schedule safeguards.
The chain of events unfolded after Wangchuk’s 14-day hunger strike, launched on September 10, spiraled out of control.
On September 24, protests in Leh turned ugly as mobs torched the BJP office, Hill Council building and a CRPF vehicle.
Security forces opened fire to quell the unrest, but the violence claimed lives and triggered outrage.
Even as Wangchuk appealed for calm and broke his fast to prevent further bloodshed, the Union Territory administration came down hard.
The Union Home Ministry revoked the FCRA licence of SECMOL, the NGO founded by Wangchuk, alleging irregularities in foreign funding.
Authorities further blamed him for “provocative” speeches that allegedly incited the mob.
More than 50 people have been detained across Leh and Kargil, with curfews and prohibitory orders in place.
Calls for a judicial probe into the firing are growing louder, even as the administration holds Wangchuk responsible.
Local bodies like the Leh Apex Body (LAB), however, rejected the government’s narrative, insisting that Wangchuk had consistently advocated nonviolence and that the flare-up was caused by an angry section of youth.
Wangchuk himself, before being taken away, accused the government of trying to scapegoat him, warning that jailing him would only deepen public anger.
The crackdown has divided opinion—while officials maintain law and order demanded strict action, civil society groups across the Himalayas have extended support to Wangchuk’s movement.
The coming days will decide whether his arrest marks the end of an activist’s journey or sparks a larger people’s uprising in Ladakh.
