Srinagar: Civil society leaders in Ladakh on Tuesday (October 14) accused the Union territory administration and local police of intimidating government employees and “destroying evidence” purportedly related to the September 24 protests.Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) leader Asgar Ali Karbalai said that the Union home ministry and the Union territory administration should “come out of the illusion” that normalcy has returned to Ladakh.“It is the lull before the storm,” he said, alleging that youth and village headmen were being harassed across Ladakh and that attempts were being made to “destroy the evidence”, a reference apparently to the ongoing investigation into the September 24 violence in Leh.Several dozen videos shot by protesters and some journalists circulated on social media as a peaceful protest turned violent in the capital city, following which four civilians were shot dead in firing by security forces while a critically injured woman was airlifted to AIIMS Delhi.These videos form important evidence of the violence into which a magisterial inquiry ordered by the Ladakh administration is already underway.Ladakh’s civil society leadership has sought a judicial probe into the violence while blaming the police and Union paramilitary forces for committing atrocities on peaceful protesters.Sources told The Wire that the investigators were “specifically looking for footage” of protests in the aftermath of the violence.There was no official response from lieutenant governor Kavinder Gupta’s office or the Ladakh police to the allegation.In their first joint press conference after the civilian killings, the leaders of the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and the KDA on Tuesday reiterated their demand for a judicial probe led by a retired Supreme Court judge into the violence.All the leaders wore black armbands as a mark of protest against the alleged atrocities and a sober reminder to the Union government that the demand in Ladakh for inclusion in the sixth schedule and for statehood is not going anywhere.The KDA-LAB combine that has sought constitutional safeguards and the restoration of democracy in Ladakh was engaged in informal talks with a high-powered committee of the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA), which was set up in 2023.A meeting of the KDA-LAB core group was held in Leh on Tuesday, after which the leaders listed four preconditions for the resumption of the MHA-led talks, putting the onus of restoring normalcy on the local administration and the Union government.“Ladakhis will not be pressured or scared. They [the MHA and the UT administration] should wake up and stop this reign of harassment. Don’t be under this impression that things like bullets, death threats or jail terms can silence Ladakhis. They will never be pressured. They will never be scared.”Besides the judicial probe, their other demands include the unconditional release of those detained and arrested by the Ladakh police following the September 24 violence including the climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, fair compensation for the slain and injured, and focussed talks on statehood and sixth schedule-inclusion only.Speaking with reporters, Karbalai also announced that a silent march will be carried out across Ladakh in protest against the events of September 24 and to reiterate the demand for inclusion in the sixth schedule and for statehood.Karbalai however said that the date will be announced at an appropriate time and that the march would be held from 10 am to 12 pm followed by a blackout between 6 pm and 9 pm on the same day.“It is aimed to send a message that unless Ladakhis don’t get justice and their constitutional rights, especially statehood and [inclusion in the] sixth schedule, they will not stay silent,” Karbalai, who was flanked by LAB co-chairman Chering Dorjay Lakrook and other leaders, said.Karabalai addressed the media in Urdu while Lakrook made similar remarks in Ladakhi.The KDA leader urged the Ladakh administration and the MHA to act “before this silence takes the shape of a storm”. “We have not given up hope. Ladakhis live in a difficult climate and they are very tough fighters. They will continue to fight,” he said.He said that the joint leadership expected that the MHA and the UT administration had realised the sensitivity of the situation in Ladakh after the September 24 violence.“But what we are seeing is a string of threats, harassment, detentions and pressure tactics being used against government officials. They are pressuring people to give favourable statements about the government. Our gobas and youth are being threatened to stay silent. This won’t be tolerated,” he said.Many gobas or village headmen in Ladakh have been summoned and questioned by the police in the aftermath of the September 24 protests, according to agitation leaders. Referring to the government’s highhandedness against protesters, Karbalai said that the UT administration and the MHA should not assume that Ladakh has fallen silent.He said that the agitation for inclusion in the sixth schedule and for statehood has been peaceful in the past and will continue to remain peaceful in the future. “We will walk the path of Gandhi,” he said.