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Activist incited mob by citing Arab Spring: MHA on Ladakh violence
The MHA accused activist Sonam Wangchuk of inciting mob violence in Ladakh, linking it to frustrations over unemployment and political motives.
The ministry of home affairs (MHA) on Wednesday said the mob violence in Ladakh was allegedly incited by activist Sonam Wangchuk, further accusing him of misleading the people through provocative mention of Arab Spring-style protests and references to the recent Gen Z protests in Nepal.
Wednesday’s events were allegedly fuelled by politically motivated individuals who were not happy with the progress made by the high-powered committee led by Union MoS Nityanand Rai, to address concerns raised by the people in Ladakh, and were trying to sabotage the dialogue, the MHA said, adding that the situation has been brought under control. Track Ladakh protest live updates
“A hunger strike was started by Sonam Wangchuk on September 10 stating the demand of (bringing the UT under) 6th schedule (of constitution) and statehood for Ladakh. It is well known that government of India has been actively engaged with Apex Body Leh (ABL) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) on same issues. Series of meetings were held with them through formal channel of high-powered committee as well as sub-committee and multiple informal meetings with leaders,” the MHA said in a statement.
The ministry said the next meeting of the high-powered committee has been scheduled on October 6 while meetings are also planned on September 25 and 26 with leaders from Ladakh.
The ministry said that the process of dialogue through this mechanism has yielded phenomenal results by increasing reservations for Ladakh scheduled tribe from 45% to 84%, providing 1/3 women reservations in the councils and declaring Bhoti and Purgi as official languages. Recruitment of 1,800 posts was also commenced, it added.
“However, certain politically motivated individuals were not happy with the progress made under HPC has been trying to sabotage the dialogue process,” the ministry said. “The demands on which Wangchuk was on hunger strike are integral part of the discussion in HPC. In spite of many leaders urging to call off the hunger strike he continued with the hunger strike and misleading the people through provocative mention of Arab Spring-style protest and references to Gen Z protests in Nepal.”
Sharing the sequence of events of Wednesday, MHA said at around 11.30 am, a mob allegedly instigated by Wangchuk’s provocative speeches left the venue of the hunger strike and attacked a political party office as well as government office of the Leh chief.
“They also put these offices on fire, attacked the security personnel, and torched police vehicle. The unruly mob attacked the police personnel in which more than 30 police/CRPF personnel were injured. The mob continued to destroy the public property and attack the police personnel. In self-defence, police had to resort to firing in which unfortunately some casualties are reported,” it said.
Barring unfortunate incidents that happened early in the day, the situation was brought under control by 4pm, the home ministry noted.
Blaming Wangchuk for Wednesday’s incidents, the MHA said “It is clear that the mob was incited by Shri Sonam Wangchuk through his provocative statements. Incidentally, amidst these violent developments, he broke his fast and left for his village in an ambulance without making serious efforts to control the situation.”
The government further said it stands committed to the aspiration of people of Ladakh by providing adequate constitutional safeguards. “It is also requested that the people should not circulate the old and provocative videos in the media and social media,” the MHA said.
Ladakh Lieutenant Governor Kavinder Gupta blamed “vested interests” for the violence in Ladakh and vowed action against the guilty.
“We will not spare those people who have spoiled the atmosphere here,” he stated, noting that Wednesday’s incidents was not spontaneous and was the result of a conspiracy. “...For the past couple of days, the way people were being incited by comparing the situation with that of Nepal and Bangladesh (uprising). Some people said they will set everything on fire and kill people … this is against democratic system.”
In the aftermath of the violence that claimed the lives of four people and injured 45, Lt Guv Gupta announced a curfew as “precautionary measure”. “People have lost their lives here and I express my condolences to their families. All necessary measures will be taken to prevent more casualties,” Gupta said.
Activist Sonam Wangchuk said that he preferred to label the protest in Ladakh as a “youth” demonstration rather than terming it a Gen Z protest.
“These people call themselves Gen Z, that’s why we said that otherwise I refer to them as youths. Gen Z is not my term; people often use it to describe them. Actually, these are the youths,” Wangchuk said in a virtual conference, further noting that the stir took a violent turn because of the “venting of frustration” among the youths due to unemployment in the Union Territory.
With inputs from agencies
