Leh: Ladakh Member of Parliament (MP) Mohmad Haneefa on Friday demanded a judicial inquiry into the police firing during the September 24 violence in Leh, asserting that the protest-turned-clash was an “outburst” of the long-standing frustration among the region’s unemployed youth.
The violence in Leh on Wednesday saw clashes and arson, resulting in the deaths of four people and injuries to at least 59 others, including 22 police personnel.
Haneefa described the violence, which left four people dead, as “very unfortunate”, acknowledging that protesters were wrong to attack the Hill Council and BJP offices. However, he strongly questioned the security forces’ response.
“It is very unfortunate that four people from Ladakh lost their lives in this situation. Bullets were fired on them… There should be a judicial inquiry into the incident of firing, because this appeared to be a targeted firing,” Haneefa told PTI in an interview.
He criticised the police’s alleged failure to resort to non-lethal crowd control methods.
“They targeted the youth; they could have fired in the air to disperse the crowd or fired towards the ground to contain the situation,” he said, noting that the use of force by the police appeared to have further provoked the youth after an initial altercation.
The MP, who has raised the demand for a judicial probe with the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, called for a fair investigation into the day’s events to ensure that “the innocent should not be made scapegoats” in the arrests that have followed.
Haneefa dismissed suggestions of any external conspiracy or involvement of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk in instigating the violence. “I don’t think Sonam Wangchuk had any such intention,” he said, noting that the activist has always insisted on following a peaceful path.
The MP maintained that the tragic events were an expression of bottled-up frustration. “I think the frustration of the unemployed youths of Ladakh, who have felt frustrated for many years, came out,” he said.
Urging the Centre to immediately resume dialogue, he warned that the delay in talks on demands for Ladakh’s statehood and inclusion of the Union Territory in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution led to a feeling among the people that their aspirations were being ignored.
Haneefa condoled the loss of life, saying that the casualties included students and young people between the ages of 18 and 25. “These young people of Ladakh are our future,” he said.
