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Stop politics of violence: Rahul Gandhi to Centre over Ladakh protests
Rahul Gandhi demanded a fair probe in killings, adding that PM Modi had betrayed the people of Ladakh.
Hitting out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that he had "betrayed" the people of Ladakh after four people were killed last week in clashes with police.
Four people were killed in clashes between the police and protesters demanding statehood. War veteran Tsewang Tharchin was also among the deceased.
"(Prime Minister Narendra) Modi ji, you have betrayed the people of Ladakh. They are demanding their rights. Communicate with them - stop the politics of violence and fear," he wrote on X.
Gandhi posted on X a video of Tharchin's father and said, "Father in the army, son in the army - patriotism runs in their blood. Yet the BJP government shot and killed this brave son of the nation, simply because he stood up for Ladakh and his rights."
The father's pain-filled eyes ask one question, is this the reward for serving the nation today, Gandhi said in his post in Hindi, as he demanded an impartial judicial inquiry into these killings in Ladakh.
The Congress on Monday had said it was outrageous that ex-serviceman Tharchin was among those killed in firing by the security forces in Ladakh. In a post on X, Congress general secretary, in-charge, communications, Jairam Ramesh said Tharchin served at the Siachen Glacier and fought valiantly in the 1999 Kargil War.
His father, too, served in the Indian Army, he said.
"Tsewang Tharchin was protesting peacefully for Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh. It should be a matter of the deepest anguish and outrage that he was killed along with three others in the firing on the agitationists five days back," Ramesh said.
Curfew was imposed and internet suspended last week in Ladakh following the killings. Headquarters of the Bharatiya Janata Party was set ablaze by the protestors who also threw stones at police and CRPF. On September 26, activist Sonam Wangchuk was detained under the stringent National Security Act and subsequently lodged in Jodhpur jail in Rajasthan.
