Curfew and restrictions entered the fifth consecutive day, today, in Leh and Kargil districts of Ladakh region in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, with internet services still suspended.
The New Delhi-controlled administration clamped the curfew last week after Indian forces’ firing on protesters left four people dead and nearly one hundred injured. The demonstrators were pressing for full statehood for Ladakh and its inclusion under the Sixth Schedule. Heavy deployment of Indian troops and police continues in Leh and adjoining Kargil district, where gatherings of five or more persons remain strictly banned.
Meanwhile, Ladakh’s prominent environmental activist Sonam Wangchuk, who has been at the forefront of the agitation, was arrested in a police raid at his Leh residence. He has been shifted to Jodhpur Jail in the Indian state of Rajasthan under the draconian National Security Act (NSA), sparking widespread condemnation.
