The prohibitory orders imposed in Leh following the violence on September 24 were relaxed for four hours starting 10 am on Tuesday, PTI reported.

The additional district magistrate ordered grocery stores, hardware shops and essential services to be open during this period.

The restrictions had been imposed after four persons were killed in police firing during protests on September 24 demanding statehood for Ladakh and its inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.

Demonstrators clashed with and threw stones at the police, and set fire to the Bharatiya Janata Party office and a police vehicle.

The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution guarantees protection for land and nominal autonomy for citizens in designated tribal-dominated areas. In Ladakh, more than 97% of the population belongs to the Scheduled Tribes.

Activist Sonam Wangchuk was arrested in Leh on Friday. The Union government has claimed that the violence was incited by “provocative statements” made by the activist.

Along with the imposition of a curfew in Leh, internet services were suspended after the violence. Authorities in Kargil and other major towns of Ladakh also enforced prohibitory orders banning gatherings of five or more persons.

On Monday, the restrictions in Leh were relaxed for two hours from 4 pm after the completion of the last rites of the four persons killed in the police firing, PTI reported.

A decision to further extend the relaxation of the prohibitory orders would be taken depending on the emerging situation, officials told the news agency.

Also read: In Sonam Wangchuk, the Centre finds a scapegoat for its failures in Ladakh

Additional District Magistrate Ghulam Mohammed also told PTI that no untoward incident had been reported in Leh after the violence on September 24.

“Police and paramilitary forces are deployed in strength in the sensitive areas and are maintaining strict vigil to maintain law and order,” he added.

Lieutenant Governor Kavinder Gupta on Monday urged residents of the Union Territory to maintain peace, calling it “the cornerstone of development”.

“I urge all sections of society to maintain unity and harmony and not fall prey to the designs of anti-social and anti-national elements,” PTI quoted Gupta as saying. “The administration stands firmly with the people and will ensure their safety, dignity and progress.”

He promised to address grievances of the public through dialogue and democratic means.

Officials also told PTI that internet services continued to be suspended in Leh.

The prohibitory orders barring the assembly of five or more persons were still in force in other major parts of the Union Territory, including Kargil.

Meanwhile, the Apex Body Leh and Kargil Democratic Alliance, civil society coalitions that have been leading the movement seeking constitutional safeguards for Ladakh, called off talks with the Union home ministry. The coalitions stated that “talks cannot be held at gunpoint”.

Cherring Dorjay Lakruk, co-convenor of the Apex Body Leh, said that the Union government and some media organisations had been making baseless allegations about the citizens of Ladakh being “anti-national”, and had been accusing them of having Pakistani links.

The primary reason for calling off the dialogue was the lack of commitment by the Union government to hold a judicial inquiry into the killing of the four persons in police firing on September 24, said the Apex Body Leh.

“Our children were shot in the head,” Lakruk said. “…The Central Reserve Police Force [CRPF] fired at our people without the permission of the district magistrate. We have proof to support this.”

“Till the time the tag of anti-nationals on our children is not removed, we will not participate in the talks with government,” he said. “Ladakhis will not tolerate this.”

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