Drop NSA charges, release Wangchuk, says Opposition
POLITY – STATES
28 SEPTEMBER 2025
- On September 26, 2025, prominent educationist and climate activist of Ladakh, Sonam Wangchuk, was detained under the National Security Act (NSA), 1980 for disrupting public order. He has been transferred from Leh to a jail in Jodhpur.
- Mr. Wangchuk was on the fifteenth day of a 35-day hunger strike when violent protests erupted in Leh city which led to the death of four people and injuries to around 150 people, including security personnel.
- For the past five years, civil society groups have been demanding protection of land, resources and employment for Ladakh.
- The special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 was read down by Parliament on August 5, 2019 and the State was split into two Union Territories — J&K and Ladakh, the latter without an Assembly.
- The fear of big businesses and conglomerates taking away land and jobs from the local people led to this demand.
- On September 10, 2025 Mr. Wangchuk, on behalf of the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), announced a 35-day hunger strike along with 15 others to demand the resumption of talks with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
- They had four demands: inclusion of Ladakh in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution (tribal status), Statehood, separate Lok Sabha seats for Leh and Kargil, and filling of existing government vacancies.
- In January 2023, a High-Powered Committee (HPC) headed by Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai was created on the matter.
- The civil society representatives rejected the HPC, saying only pro-government members appeared to have been picked. The HPC was reconstituted on November 30, 2023.
- The terms of reference of the committee are: measures to protect the region’s unique culture
- The talks broke down in March 2024.
- On October 6, 2024, Mr. Wangchuk sat on an indefinite fast in Delhi to draw the government’s attention to their demands, following which the MHA agreed to resume talks.
- Following the meeting, in June 2025, President Droupadi Murmu notified four Regulations for the Union Territory of Ladakh, defining new policies on reservation, languages, domiciles and composition of hill councils for Ladakh.
- The Regulations paved the way for 85% reservation for resident Ladakhis in government jobs.
- The Ladakh groups allege that their core demands of Statehood and inclusion in the Sixth Schedule have not been met.
- “The process of dialogue through this mechanism has yielded phenomenal results by increasing reservations for Ladakh’s Scheduled Tribe[s] from 45% to 84%, providing one-third reservations to women in the councils and declaring Bhoti and Purgi as official languages. With this process of recruitment, 1,800 posts opened up for tribals,” the MHA said.
