The Centre blamed climate activist Sonam Wangchuk for inciting the mob for violent clashes in Ladakh on Wednesday through his ‘provocative statements’. The protests, which took place on Wednesday over demands for statehood and Sixth Schedule inclusion, left 4 people dead and over 70 injured, prompting police to impose a curfew. In a post on X, the Ministry of Home Affairs claimed, “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.”
Meanwhile, the Government urged the people to refrain from circulating old and provocative videos on social media platforms. “In spite of many leaders urging him to call off the hunger strike, he continued with the hunger strike and misled the people through provocative mentions of Arab Spring-style protests and references to Gen Z protests in Nepal,” MHA said in a statement.
⭐ The demands on which Mr 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…
— PIB – Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) September 24, 2025
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In a series of posts on X, the Centre shared details of the outbreak of the violent clashes. The Government said the situation in Ladakh didn’t escalate on its own; rather, it was deliberately engineered. It resulted in an attack on the CEC Leh’s government office and a political party’s office. The unruly mob torched a police vehicle, assaulted the security, injuring over 30 CRPF personnel.
The Centre said that Sonam Wangchuk’s hunger strike, which started on September 10, continued despite ongoing talks through a High-Powered Committee, Sub-committee, and multiple informal meetings with leaders that delivered ley key concessions.
“The process of dialogue through this mechanism has yielded phenomenal results by increasing reservations for the Ladakh scheduled tribe from 45% to 84%, providing 1/3 women’s reservations in the councils, and declaring Bhoti and Purgi as official languages. With this process, the recruitment of 1800 posts was also commenced,” MHA announced.
The violence in Ladakh played out against the backdrop of the upcoming meeting with the Central government. Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk had again been on a hunger strike in the Union Territory for 15 days to safeguard the fragile ecosystem, jobs, and land rights. He was part of the ongoing agitation. The protest comes at a time when a fresh round of talks is scheduled to be held between the Government and Ladakh representatives on October 6. Meetings are also planned on the 25th and 26th of September with the Ladakh leaders.
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