Leh was the scene of violent ‘Gen Z’ style protests on Wednesday, Sep 24, leaving at least 4 people dead and over 60 injured, including 30 security personnel.
Protesters resorted to stone pelting and vandalism before setting fire to the local BJP headquarters. Additionally, the Government office of Leh’s Chief Executive Councillor (CEC) was also targetted.
What are the factors that led to Leh’s Gen Z violence?
Tensions have been simmering in Ladakh since it was carved out as a separate Union Territory (UT) in 2019 from the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir.
For context - the move by the BJP-led Union Government split the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir into two UTs - Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh. The Union Government had said that the move would give both UTs “all the rights enshrined in the Constitution of India and benefits of all the Central Laws” to their people.
But, while J&K has a legislative assembly, Ladakh does not, leaving the region under direct central rule. Joblessness, amongst other serious concerns, soon emerged over what residents described as a political vacuum under the administration of the Lieutenant Governor (LG).
The people of Ladakh therefore began demanding statehood and constitutional safeguards under the Sixth Schedule. This would ensure the people have greater local autonomy to protect its tribal identity as well as its fragile ecosystem.
Renowned activist Sonam Wangchuk launched indefinite hunger strikes on several occasions as a means to get the Union Government to the negotiation table.
Simultaneously, the people of Ladakh formed the Apex Body of Leh and Kargil Democratic Alliance to engage in formal talks with the Government. The initiative is said to have, for the first time, brought groups from Buddhist-majority Leh and Muslim-majority Kargil under a single platform.
Wangchuk called off the earlier ones after the Govt and the Apex Body began discussions. However following delays and perceived inaction by the government, he launched the latest hunger strike on Sept 10.
On Tuesday, Sep 23rd, two of the people participating in the hunger strike needed to be hospitalised owing to deteriorating health conditions. This angered the Apex Body’s youth wing. Furious that the Government had set Oct 6th as the next meeting date, they called for a region-wide shutdown on Sept 24. What started peacefully soon escalated into full-blown chaos and violence.
The Ministry of Home Affairs in its statement levelled the blame squarely on Wangchuk’s shoulders, who by evening had called off his hunger strike. In it they accused him of instigating the violent mob “through provocative mentions of Arab Spring-style protest and references to Gen Z protests in Nepal”.
Prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 were imposed banning gatherings of five or more people. Security personnel eventually succeeded in bringing the situation under control by 4 PM.
