The Union government on Friday announced a judicial inquiry into the deaths of four persons in police firing during protests in Leh on September 24.

The investigation will be headed by former Supreme Court judge, Justice BS Chauhan, according to a press release from the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The police firing and violence broke out on September 24, during protests 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.

Two days later, Activist Sonam Wangchuk was arrested under the National Security Act in Leh and later taken to the jail in Jodhpur.

The Union government has claimed that the violence was incited by Wangchuk’s “provocative statements”.

On October 5, Wangchuk, through his lawyer, said that he was prepared to remain in jail until a judicial probe was ordered into the violence.

After nearly three weeks of heightened security and restrictions, the Ladakh administration lifted the ban on gatherings of more than four persons on Wednesday, The Hindu reported.

The Union home ministry’s statement on Friday emphasised that the “government has always been open to discussions at any point in time”.

“We would continue to welcome the discussion with Apex Body Leh and Kargil Democratic Alliance through the High Powered Committee on Ladakh or any such platform,” it added. “The government stands committed to the aspiration of people of Ladakh.”

After Wangchuk’s detention, the Apex Body Leh and the Kargil Democratic Alliance had withdrawn from negotiations with the government stating that “talks cannot be held at gunpoint”.

The Apex Body Leh and the Kargil Democratic Alliance are civil society coalitions that have been leading the movement seeking constitutional safeguards for Ladakh.

Demand for constitutional safeguards

On August 5, 2019, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government abrogated the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution and bifurcated the state into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

The lack of a legislature in Ladakh has led to increasing insecurities among the residents of the Union Territory about their land, nature, resources and livelihoods and stoked fears that the region’s cultural identity and fragile ecosystem may be in jeopardy.

In this backdrop, civil society groups have been demanding that Ladakh be included in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, which would allow for the creation of autonomous development councils to govern land, public health and agriculture.

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