The Indian government on Friday detained the leader of a movement seeking more autonomy for a tiny but strategically important region in the Himalayas, accusing him of instigating violent protests that threatened national security.
The leader, Sonam Wangchuk, was taken into custody two days after India’s Ministry of Home Affairs accused him of fomenting mob violence in the region, Ladakh. The region has become a flashpoint for India’s territorial disputes with China and Pakistan, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government brought it under direct federal control in 2019.
Ladakh initially welcomed the change, expecting to see more autonomy and development. But not long after, feeling that change had not come, the region soured toward the government. Since then, Mr. Wangchuk has been the face of a growing movement seeking full statehood for Ladakh, which has more than 300,000 people. He had been on a hunger strike for the cause for two weeks when deadly clashes erupted on Wednesday between protesters and the police, killing at least four people and injuring dozens of others.
Mr. Wangchuk, 59, was detained under India’s National Security Act, a broad piece of legislation that allows the government to arrest an individual for endangering national security or harming public order.
His detainment fits a pattern in the Modi government’s reactions to those it perceives as challenging its authority. Media organizations, comedians, academics, religious minorities and activists who advocate causes unpopular with the government have found themselves jailed, subjected to legal action or attacked by mobs as groups aligned with Mr. Modi’s Hindu nationalist agenda have flourished.
The Ladakh administration said in a news release late on Friday that Mr. Wangchuk had “time and again” indulged in “activities prejudicial to the security of the state and detrimental to maintenance of peace and public order and services essential to the community.”
Because Mr. Wangchuk had likened the outpouring of frustration and anger among Ladakh’s youth to a “Gen Z revolution,” the home ministry accused him of inciting the mob that formed on Wednesday and of “misleading” people, also citing what it called his “provocative” mentions of Arab Spring-style protests and references to recent unrest in neighboring Nepal.
The Ladakh administration also criticized Mr. Wangchuk for continuing his hunger strike despite an upcoming round of talks on the region’s demands for statehood, saying it was to fulfill his “personal and political ambitions.” The home ministry and Ladakh representatives are expected to have the formal talks on Oct. 6. It is not clear whether they will continue now that Mr. Wangchuk has been detained.
The protests started on Wednesday morning, a day after two people who were fasting alongside Mr. Wangchuk were hospitalized. Thousands of protesters clashed with the police in Leh, the region’s biggest city.
On Thursday, India’s home ministry canceled the license of an educational nonprofit founded by Mr. Wangchuk that would have allowed it to receive foreign funding, citing financial irregularities. Mr. Wangchuk said he was no longer on the board of the nonprofit.
Mohmad Haneefa, a member of Parliament, called Mr. Wangchuk “a peace-loving person” who had “always followed Gandhi’s path.” He said the violence was a result of the frustration many young people felt about the lack of opportunity in Ladakh. “I can say with authority that he has no hand in what happened in Leh on that day,” he said.
In the case of Ladakh, geopolitics is also at play. The region’s proximity to China and Pakistan, two of India’s biggest rivals, means that the government can view instability in the region as a threat to national security.
Before 2019, Ladakh was part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, a position that gave it a measure of autonomy. Then the Modi government revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and brought Ladakh under federal control as one of several so-called union territories.
Ladakh has since sought autonomy through statehood and inclusion in a list of tribal areas that enjoy certain privileges under the Indian Constitution. Ladakh’s main advocacy groups have been in negotiations with India’s home ministry for years, but progress has been slow.
Mr. Wangchuk, a climate activist and engineer, first came to prominence for his efforts to raise awareness of threats to Ladakh, an ecologically fragile region, from growing tourism and construction. He became a local hero and even the inspiration for a character in “3 Idiots,” a Bollywood hit.
Mr. Wangchuk has led largely peaceful protests, adopting the Gandhian strategy of hunger strikes as a form of resistance. But young people have increasingly become frustrated with the slow pace of economic development in Ladakh and the paucity of work, including government jobs, which are considered secure.
In a video address on Wednesday, Mr. Wangchuk appealed to protesters to refrain from using violence. He said doing so would defeat the causes they were fighting for.
Anupreeta Das covers India and South Asia for The Times. She is based in New Delhi.
Hari Kumar covers India, based out of New Delhi. He has been a journalist for more than two decades.
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