The Indian Express reported on September 24 that violent protests erupted in Leh, Ladakh, demanding "statehood" and autonomy, resulting in four deaths and 56 injuries. The protests were initiated by the "Leh Apex Body" (note: Leh Apex Body, LAB, a Ladakh statehood advocacy organization), aiming to support its member, climate activist Sonam Wangchuk's new hunger strike, demanding that Ladakh be granted statehood and included in Schedule 6 of the Constitution (note: Schedule 6 of the Constitution stipulates that certain tribal areas within Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram can be managed as autonomous entities, known as "scheduled areas," enjoying local protective policies on key issues such as land). It is reported that protesters set fire to the BJP office in Leh and clashed with the police, causing multiple casualties. Wangchuk condemned the violent actions but attributed it to the "anger accumulated over the past five or six years" of the people, referring to the protesters as the "Z-generation," and stated that peaceful resistance should be adopted, urging all parties to exercise restraint. When the protests emerged in March and April 2024, the Modi government had already established a high-level committee to review the above-mentioned demands of the Ladakh region, but after multiple rounds of talks, no breakthrough was achieved. According to sources, the central government does not want Wangchuk to participate in the negotiations, considering him an "obstacle to negotiations," coupled with the central government's unwillingness to include Ladakh in Schedule 6 of the Constitution, and the alternative security measures proposed by the central government differ from the actual demands of Ladakh, leading to a deadlock in the negotiations, which have not resumed since May. Notably, this round of protests coincided with the resumption of new talks between the Indian central government and the LAB just before October 6, and the condition for the resumption of the talks was that the LAB exclude Wangchuk from the negotiation delegation and appoint former BJP MP Thupstan Chhewang as the head of the delegation.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1844289528217600/
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