SRINAGAR: Ladakh Police arrested activist Sonam Wangchuk on Friday and charged him under NSA with inciting violent unrest, among other offences, as the administration continued its crackdown on what it termed a “conspiracy” to throw the Union territory into turmoil.Mobile internet was suspended in Leh as a precautionary measure, although no violence has been reported since Wednesday’s clashes in which four protesters were killed and over 80 people injured in alleged police firing.Wangchuk was taken into custody moments before he was to hold a presser online to address the allegations against him. He might have anticipated his arrest, going by his remarks to reporters an hour earlier. “My being inside jail would awaken the people of the country more than my being outside,” he said.A senior police officer said Wangchuk might be taken outside Ladakh for interrogation.A day earlier, the Union govt revoked the FCRA licence of Wangchuk’s Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh, citing “serious discrepancies” in financial accounting, including alleged violations involving cash deposits, undeclared donations and a fund transfer of Rs 4.93 lakh from Sweden that the MHA termed “against national interest”. All educational institutions in Ladakh will remain shut for two days as a precautionary measure, the administration said.Chering Dorjay Lakruk, co-chairperson of Leh Apex Body (LAB), dismissed the allegations against Wangchuk as baseless. He said that on Sept 23, LAB-affiliated Apex Body Youth called for a shutdown in Leh after two people fasting alongside Wangchuk collapsed.After news spread about their condition, about 7,500 protesters gathered at the protest site the following day. The crowd later hurled stones at the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council office, leading to the mayhem in which four protesters died.Wangchuk had started his hunger strike on Sept 9 to demand Sixth Schedule protection and statehood for Ladakh. He ended the fast on Wednesday. “It is sad the govt is blaming Wangchuk,” Lakruk said.He said that despite setbacks, Ladakhi organisations would go ahead with the scheduled Oct 6 talks with an MHA-appointed committee. The delegation will travel to Delhi on Sept 30 after the funerals of the four people killed in Wednesday’s violence.Kargil Democratic Alliance’s Sajjad Kargili, too, contested the charges slapped on Wangchuk. “I strongly condemn this brutal crackdown on the Ladakhi leadership. Our struggle for statehood and Sixth Schedule status will continue. No detention or witch-hunt can deter us,” he said.Sixth Schedule grants tribal areas in the Northeast autonomy over land, resources and culture. Ladakhis have sought similar protections since 2019, when the erstwhile state of J&K was split into two Union territories. Talks with the central committee set up in 2023 has so far yielded only a domicile policy.Lieutenant governor Kavinder Gupta said any attempt to disturb peace in the region would be strictly dealt with. “We are in touch with religious leaders to keep the situation normal,” he said.
