Four people died in protests in the Indian region of Ladakh on Wednesday. Protesters took to the streets to demand sovereignty for the region. The protest in the regional capital Leh, which initially went peacefully, escalated after the police and forces tried to end the demonstration, explains A protest coordinator Al Jazeera.
On Tuesday, two activists who had been in a hunger strike since 10 September were admitted to the hospital. To the Indian newspaper The Hindu report Local residents that fighting arose when the police tried to break up the demonstration around an office building. Protesters would have pelted the office with stones, after which the police used tear gas.
Protesters then set fire to the office of BJP, the Hindu nationalist party of the current Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The town hall was also destroyed. During the confrontation between police and protesters, some (police) cars also caught fire.
Gen Z-Revolution
Members of BJP blame the escalation of the demonstrations in ‘anarchist“And climate activist Sonam Wangchuk. Wangchuk was involved in the hunger strike. He is said to have spoken up, according to Modi.
Wangchuk, who has since stopped his own fifteen -day hunger strike, out His grief in Instagram videos about violence and vandalism. He mentions The demonstration, which was led by the youth department of Leh Apex Body (Lab) and where many students were present, “youth rage” and a “gene Z” revolution.
More autonomy promised
Ladakh, a sparsely populated region that borders the Himalayas, was part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. In 2019, the Indian government withdrew the autonomy of this state. As a result, Ladakh came under the authority of the central government of India, the local governance of the region lost a large part of their administrative powers. Since then, there are often peaceful protests and hunger strikes in Ladakh out of dissatisfaction against this decision.
In 2020, BJP promised in election time to give Ladakh more autonomy. But this has not happened so far. There have been talks about this for ages between the national government and representatives of Ladakh – to the frustration of the inhabitants of Ladakh, results are not forthcoming.
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