NEW DELHI: At least 4 people were killed and several were injured on Wednesday after a demonstration demanding statehood of Ladakh turned violent in the capital Leh.Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk – who is seen as the face of the protest – ended his 15-day hunger strike, expressing sadness over the violent escalation.Wangchuk termed this demonstration as “youth’s anger” and “Gen Z” revolution.“I am sad to inform you that there was vandalism in Leh during a protest. Many offices and police vehicles were vandalised and burned. A bandh was announced in Leh, but the youth came in large numbers. This was youth’s anger, a Gen-Z revolution,” Wangchuk said in a video message as teargas shells were heard in the backdrop.Bharatiya Janata Party, meanwhile, said there was a conscious effort to liken this violence to that of Nepal’s recent Gen Z protests, and alleged that in reality the agitation was not led by the youth but fuelled by the Congress.

“Today, in Ladakh, attempts were made to portray some protests as being led by Gen Z. However, when investigated, it was discovered that these protests were not led by Gen Z, but by Congress. Congress councillor Stanzin Tsepang is the councillor from the Upper Leh ward. He is the main instigator, and numerous photos have surfaced of him and his workers instigating the violence. He can also be seen marching towards the BJP office with a weapon in his hand. He is instigating the mob and targeting the BJP office. A video of this has also surfaced, and the BJP has also posted it. Councillor Stanzin Tsepang is with Rahul Gandhi,” BJP MP Sambit Patra said.Additionally, government sources told news agency ANI that the situation in Leh didn’t spiral on its own and it was “engineered deliberately.”“Ladakh and its youth are paying a huge price for the narrow politics played by certain individuals and personal ambitions by Sonam Wangchuk,” sources said.“The Centre had already fixed October 6 for the meeting of the High Powered Committee to discuss all issues posed by ABL and KDA. The Center also agreed on the new members for HPC as proposed by ABL. Upon receiving a request for preponement, some meetings were being considered on Sept 25-26. In fact, the Center has been always ready for the talks and on earlier occasions also talks were also proposed on 25th July which did not receive positive response,” it added.Ladakh’s Lt governor Kavinder Gupta also held vested interests responsible for violence.“In a democratic system, protesting is a right. However, it must be done in a peaceful manner. For the past two days, attempts have been made to incite people, and the protest held here was compared to those held in Bangladesh and Nepal. This smells of a conspiracy behind the protest,” he said.Also read| Ladakh LG makes ‘Bangladesh-Nepal’ claim; vows thorough probe“When police were deployed to control the law and order situation, a CRPF vehicle was torched. During the protest, DG’s vehicle was attacked with stones. If this protest had not been stopped, then these people (protestors) would have ruined the entire city of Leh,” he added.Wangchuk, later, backtracked from giving the “Gen Z” adjective to the protest and preferred to label the protest in Ladakh as a “youth” demonstration.In a virtual press conference, Sonam Wangchuk said, “These people call themselves Gen Z, that’s why we said that otherwise I refer to them as youths. Gen Z is not my term; people often use it to describe them. Actually, these are the youths,” Wangchuk said.How the demonstration spiraled into a deadly clashThe Ladakh Apex Body (LAB) youth wing called for the protest after two of the 15 people, who were on a 35-day hunger strike since September 10, were shifted to a hospital because their condition deteriorated on Tuesday evening. The fast was to push the Centre to resume dialogue in support of their four-point demand – statehood, extension of Sixth Schedule, separate Lok Sabha seats for Leh and Kargil and reservation for employment.On Wednesday morning, Leh was completely shut down. Hundreds of people took to the streets. The situation worsened when some youth pelted stones at the headquarters of the BJP and the Hill Council. Police and paramilitary forces, deployed in strength across the town, lobbed teargas shells to bring the situation under control, the officials said.Later, the BJP office was vandalised and set on fire along with several vehicles. As the day progressed, flames and dark smoke clouds could be seen from afar.Police resorted to firing and teargas shelling to bring the situation under control after the protesters indulged in widespread violence, officials said.The administration imposed prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the BNSS to ban the assembly of five or more people, they said. Besides, Congress leader and councillor Phuntsog Stanzin Tsepag was booked for allegedly making a provocative speech at the hunger strike venue.What is the protest about?The protest in the Union Territory gathered pace, demanding statehood and Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh, which was carved out from Jammu and Kashmir in 2019.According to Wangchuk, the situation was the outcome of frustration among the youth because they have been kept away from jobs. He added that there is no democracy in Ladakh and the Sixth Schedule promise made to the public has not been fulfilled either.The Constitution’s Sixth Schedule, meant for the tribal population of the four northeast states of Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Assam, makes special provisions in terms of governance, powers of president and the governor, type of local bodies, alternate judicial mechanisms and financial powers exercised through autonomous councils.Meanwhile, a fresh round of talks is scheduled between the ministry of home affairs and Ladakh representatives, comprising members of the LAB and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), on October 6.The two bodies have been jointly spearheading an agitation over the past four years in support of their demands and have held several rounds of talks with the government in the past.