Leh shuts down on September 24 violence anniversary; Wangchuk seeks probe report
Leh witnessed a complete shutdown on Thursday as part of “Shaheed Diwas” (Martyrs’ Day) to remember the sacrifices of four people who were killed during the violence on September 24, 2025, over demands for statehood and Sixth Schedule safeguards.
A prayer meeting was also organised by the Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA) at NDS stadium, Leh, to pay homage to the victims. Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, Chering Dorjay Lakrook, Member of Parliament, Mohammed Hanifa Jan, Thupstan Chhewang, Asghar Karbalai, and Sajjad Kargili, among others, addressed the gathering.
Addressing the gathering after attending the prayer meeting, Wangchuk demanded that the findings of the judicial inquiry into last year’s deadly violence in Leh be made public, saying, “Justice must be served to Ladakh.”
“The truth is being suppressed and hasn’t been revealed even after a year. The impression people here have is that there were attempts to incite Buddhist-Muslim communal riots long before this, and they have been happening. In that same sequence, three Muslims were appointed as magistrates to ensure a firing order was written, so that it could be blamed on Buddhists — that ‘they’ let people die. But look at their character; they refused. There was no need for such firing — to shoot people in the chest and do such things. All this will become clear when the inquiry commission’s report comes out. They must release it.” There should be an investigation. If you do not release the inquiry commission report, we will demand the creation of a People’s Tribunal.
We will appeal to those in our country’s justice system whose conscience is still alive, to those judges, retired judges and all institutions to form a People’s Tribunal, ask the people, and give your own judgement if this continues to be suppressed.
We still hope that the government will provide justice to these martyrs and to Ladakh, which has saved the Nation’s borders with such patriotism. Justice must be served to the martyrs. Justice must be served to Ladakh, he added.
During the day, several markets and business hubs in Leh and Kargil remained closed, while traffic was thin on the roads, disrupting normal life. During the prayer meeting, the leaders, in their addresses, accused the Ladakh Police of installing barricades, specifically to stop the general public from attending the prayer meet.
The Ladakh Police later refuted these allegations.
“It is hereby clarified that the police did not stop any individual from proceeding to the venue or attending the event. Any security deployments or barricades in the wider city area were strictly part of standard traffic and crowd-management protocols, established solely because the organisers had officially projected a large gathering. The claims made by the leaders regarding police obstruction are totally false, baseless, and misleading.
Earlier, on Wednesday, Ladakh Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena approved the withdrawal of criminal cases against 20 people, who were booked in connection with the violence.
