Ladakh
LEH: At Martyrs’ Park, about 1km from the Ladakh Hill Development Council (LAHDC-Leh) office, the gate stood open during curfew relaxation. Inside, chairs were stacked and a tent was dismantled. Labourers were quietly loading chairs, tent covers and iron rods into a vehicle, their faces grim.It was here that environmental activist Sonam Wangchuk began a 35-day hunger strike Sept 10, demanding Sixth Schedule protections and statehood for Ladakh. “We provide tents on rent. They called us to take it back,” a worker said. Startled at the sight of a reporter, he said, “Please go away, cops will come and we will be in trouble.”A woman entered with her child. “I was on hunger strike on Sept 24 when the situation worsened outside,” she said. “Out of fear, some of us ran in different directions. My husband later picked me up. I came back to collect my belongings.”On Sept 24, security forces opened fire on protesters demanding Sixth Schedule status, killing four and injuring dozens. Wangchuk called off his hunger strike hours later. Authorities said the police fired in self-defence after protesters tried to set ablaze a vehicle carrying security personnel. Police also claimed that without CRPF deployment, “the whole of Leh would have burnt”.Outside the park, another woman voiced her anger. “Why were people fired upon? Four people are dead. Will they give us Sixth Schedule?”About 1km away BJP’s Ladakh office, which was set on fire, was under heavy guard with spools of concertina wire around it. Cops prohibit photography of the building.At the LAHDC-Leh office, the main gate was open but there was no one there. “Since Sept 24, chief executive officer Tashi Gyalson and others haven’t come to office. In fact, no one comes,” a peon said.Mustafa Ladakhi, 36, a PhD from JNU, is among a growing number of Ladakhis at the country’s top universities concerned about home. At a hotel near Leh airport, he said the region is still in shock.“On Sept 24, my mother was on a hunger strike led by Wangchuk. There was chaos when she called me. I found her in the middle of the road. I will never forget the pain that day brought to Ladakhis,” he said. “No official has stepped down. There is no empathy. There is no apology. Instead, we are accused in the national media of destabilising the central govt… How can we be a threat when we have paid with our lives for the nation?”He argued that UT status without statehood had buried local governance under bureaucracy. “Instead of empowering local govt, we have the lieutenant governor’s office and its bureaucracy, commissioner secretaries, the DC’s office, and the police bureaucracy. They have nothing to do in Ladakh. All we see is pomp and a show of bureaucracy… Allow us to govern ourselves,” he said.“When we were part of J&K, AFSPA was never extended to Ladakh because govt knew we were Indian nationalists. Why this labelling now?” he asked.Ladakhi’s friend, a hotel owner, said, “I don’t want to talk about tourism. This is a colossal tragedy. Four deaths in a place like Ladakh are like 400 in Delhi. Sept 24 will remain etched in our memory.”In Upper Tukchal area of Leh, Rigzin Wangmo Lachic, president of All Ladakh Hotel and Guest House Association, echoed similar sentiments and demanded a judicial inquiry. “The events have shattered us and left a wound on our collective soul,” she said.At a hotel serving Kashmiri wazwan on Oct 1, during curfew relaxation, the receptionist from Doda said he no longer felt safe. “I’ve been here 10 years and never faced hostility. But after the lieutenant governor described workers from Doda and Nepal as ‘external forces’ responsible for the crisis, we are not stepping out much.”As curfew returned, shops shut ahead of the 6 pm deadline. “We comply with every direction. But govt must fulfil our four demands, including Sixth Schedule and statehood,” Gelek Punchok, 42, a member of Leh Apex Body, said. Punchok was outside the district jail, with many others, to receive around 26 prisoners released Thursday after they were given bail. Many of the released detainees said they had nothing to do with the Sept 24 violence but stated that they were with the “peaceful” struggle for Sixth Schedule status and statehood. Go to Source
