Srinagar: Climate activist and educator Sonam Wangchuk called off his fast after at least four protesters were killed in police action amid violent protests in Leh city of Ladakh on Wednesday (September 24), while many others suffered injuries, some of them critically.The identities of the deceased and those injured have not yet been officially confirmed. A local news gatherer reported that more than 70 people suffered injuries in clashes with security forces.The climate activist squarely blamed the Bhartiya Janta Party-led Union government for this crisis, saying that the high powered committee (HPC) of the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) allegedly ignored the groundswell of popular sentiment and anger in Ladakh which led to mass protests on Wednesday.The committee was formed by the MHA in January 2023 to discuss the four-point charter of demands, including statehood and sixth schedule status with the members of Ladakh’s civil society.He said that the people of Ladakh have lost patience with the BJP and the Union government as the talks have failed to deliver any tangible results.“The latest round of talks was going to happen after five months. This delay is the major reason behind the outpouring of anger in Leh city,” Wangchuk said, adding that the “anger” has been building up in Ladakh after its separation from J&K in 2019.He added, “Ladakh figures at No 2 in the country in terms of unemployment. We are without democracy after being downgraded from a state into a UT without legislature. We can’t raise our issues and even the sixth schedule has been denied”.The climate activist alleged that the the HPC meeting, scheduled to take place on October 6, was called on September 20 by the BJP-led Union government with the upcoming Ladakh hill council elections on mind.The elections to the semi-autonomous councils are scheduled to take place by the end of this year.People protest over the statehood demand and the inclusion of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule, in Leh. Photo: PTIWangchuk alleged that the government didn’t show any regard for the health condition of the group of more than a dozen climate activists who were sitting on a fast at the Martyr’s Park in Leh since September 10 in connection with the demands of Ladakh’s civil society.He said that the anger against the government went a notch up on Tuesday evening when two activists, a 72-year-old man and a 62-year-old woman, fell ill while fasting at the park, following which they were hospitalised.He said that violence broke out on Wednesday morning when a group of young protesters clashed with security forces and vandalised the office of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council which is led by the BJP and the saffron party’s office.The retaliatory police action is believed to have spared widespread protests across Ladakh’s capital city.“We tried to stop the protesters but one of our leaders returned fearing coming under attack because of the sheer scale of protesters and raw anger. Bullets were fired. This was an outpouring of raw anger and emotions but I condemn the violence,” he said.Responding to a reporter’s question on the remarks of the BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya who insinuated that the Congress party was fomenting the ongoing crisis, he said, “What happened in Leh was a spontaneous outburst of anger. No one had anticipated it”.In a post on X, Malviya had alleged that Phuntsog Stanzin Tsepag, a Congress councillor, was caught on camera “instigating the mob and participating in violence” which led to vandalism at the BJP’s Leh headquarter and the hill council secretariat on Wednesday.Wangchuk said that the two hospitalised activists belonged to the constituency of the Congress leader whom Malviya pointed out in his post.“Young school and college girls, and even monks came out and clashed with police. Some people say that some party did it but I can tell you that no party in Ladakh is powerful enough to stage the protests of the scale which we witnessed in Leh today,” he said, rejecting assertions of political backing behind the protests.“It is a result of broken promises and denial of democracy,” Wangchuk said.Speaking with reporters during a virtual press conference on Wednesday evening as an eerie calm prevailed in the tense border region, Wangchuk said that he had recently heard concerns from youngsters who were unhappy with the progress of talks between Ladakhi civil society and the Union government.“We have been protesting peacefully for six years. We marched on foot in the mountains and sat on a fast for the fifth time without any tangible result. It seems that our youngsters have had enough. They have been saying that talks are not working,” he said, expressing condolences and sympathy with the families of the deceased.On Wednesday evening, the Ladakh administration imposed restrictions on public gatherings in the border district with China to prevent the situation from going out of control.Wangchuk sounded uncertain about the fate of the 17-member high powered committee headed by the junior home minister and comprising stakeholders from different walks of life from Leh and Kargil provinces which is scheduled to meet on October 6.He urged the Union government to hold the talks immediately to address the simmering crisis, while informing that a team of the Union home ministry was going to visit Ladakh on Thursday.There was no official statement on the casualties or number of injured persons from either Ladakh police or administration when this report was filed.Looking frail and tense, Wangchuk took long pauses between his laboured remarks and said that he, along with other activists, was calling off the fast to prevent the situation in Leh from spiralling out of control.The Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), a conglomerate of political, social and trade bodies which has been supporting the public agitation in Ladakh, has called for shutdown on Thursday against the ongoing crisis.Chering Dorjey, chairman of Leh Apex Body, which has been spearheading the public agitation in Ladakh since 2019 along with the KDA, said that four protesters were killed and dozens more including female sustained injuries during clashes with security forces.