Ladakh activist Sonam Wangchuk said on Thursday that he fears he could be killed in a staged “encounter” for speaking out against the government, and he renewed his call for Union Home Minister Amit Shah to resign over last year’s deadly violence in Leh.
Wangchuk was speaking on the first anniversary of the September 24, 2025 protests, when demonstrators demanding statehood and Sixth Schedule protections for Ladakh clashed with security forces, leaving four people dead. He said he had received warnings about threats to his safety and suggested that even his death would serve a purpose if it forced the nation to pay attention, saying, “let it happen — so that the country wakes up.”
He demanded that the government make public the judicial inquiry report into the violence, which was ordered by the Ministry of Home Affairs and is headed by former Supreme Court judge B.S. Chauhan. If the report is not released, Wangchuk said he would consider setting up an independent “people’s tribunal” to investigate the deaths.
Placing the blame squarely on Shah, Wangchuk alleged that security personnel had opened fire with automatic weapons, including AK-47s, on local youth who were later branded “anti-national.” He named the four young men killed as Linchen Dadul, Tigment Dorje, Salwin Namgyal and Sandin Dorje, and pointed out that the bullet wounds were found on their chests and backs rather than their legs, which he said raised questions about whether the force used was proportionate.
Wangchuk also referred to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s earlier call for Shah’s resignation following police action at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, saying he supported that demand but questioned why Gandhi had stayed quiet on the Ladakh killings. He tied the unrest to what he described as broken promises on constitutional safeguards for the region and claimed that three magistrates had refused to authorise firing orders despite pressure to do so.
The anniversary was marked by a shutdown in Leh and Kargil, with some residents observing it as “Martyrs’ Day.” Wangchuk said turnout at commemorative events was low because of heavy security deployment and barricades that created an atmosphere of fear. Ladakh Police pushed back on this account, calling it “false and misleading” and saying permission had been granted for a public meeting, nobody was stopped from attending, and the deployment followed standard procedure after organisers had projected a much larger crowd. Attendance came in under 800 at a venue that can hold 10,000 people.
Wangchuk closed by saying Ladakh had chosen to be part of India because of its democratic values and respect for dignity, and argued that the current climate of fear in the region betrayed those ideals — describing it as even harsher than China’s treatment of Tibet.
