Protests seeking statehood in Himalayan region of Ladakh turn deadly

Violence erupted in India’s Himalayan region of Ladakh, leaving at least four dead and dozens injured as hundreds of protesters demanding statehood clashed with police and paramilitary forces.

The Wednesday protest turned violent as demonstrators clashed with police, setting fire to a paramilitary vehicle and the local office of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Sonam Wangchuk, a local activist who has been on a hunger strike seeking more power for the Himalayan region bordering China, told local media that three to five people are believed to have been killed in police gunfire.

Police fired tear gas and charged demonstrators with batons, leaving dozens injured, with some reported in critical condition, while authorities have yet to release an official casualty count.

“We have reports that many people have been injured. We don’t know the exact count,”  Wangchuk was quoted as saying.

Authorities have now banned the assembly of more than five people in Leh district, the capital of the Ladakh region, after the deadly clashes.

In a public notice, District Administrator Romil Singh Donk announced a ban on demonstrations, public gatherings and inflammatory speech.

Ladakh lost its autonomy in 2019 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government carved the region out of India-administered Kashmir. Since then, the majority Muslim-Buddhist territory has been directly governed by New Delhi.

The protests are part of a larger movement in the federally governed region that seeks statehood and constitutional provisions from New Delhi for autonomy over land and agricultural decisions.

Protesters have called for Ladakh to be given special status that would allow for the creation of elected local bodies to protect its tribal areas.

The protests are calling for Ladakh to be included under the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, which provides provisions for tribal areas and allows local communities to have a say in the administration..

Activists and local politicians in Ladakh have accused Modi’s government of not addressing their concerns. Several rounds of talks between local politicians and representatives from New Delhi in the past few years have not yielded results.

The next round of talks is expected to take place on October 6.

Ladakh was established as a union territory of India on October 31, 2019, following the passage of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act. Before that, it was a part of the Jammu and Kashmir state.

Explainer: Why India and Pakistan are fighting – and why it keeps happening?

The latest conflict between India and Pakistan is linked to a terrorist attack in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22, which led to a dramatic escalation of tensions between the two sides.

Both India and Pakistan claim the entire region of Jammu and Kashmir including Ladakh, which has been the source of conflict, bloodshed and intermittent border skirmishes between the two countries.

Ladakh, which shares a long border with China, is a strategically important territory for India.

Ladakh was the site of deadly clashes between Indian and China in 2020, straining the ties between the two Asian countries.

India, China pledge to maintain peace along contested border

In a statement, Beijing and New Delhi say they have ‘agreed to resolve the remaining issues in an expeditious manner’.

The two neighboring countries have recently moved to mend their ties in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s punishing tariff war.

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