Mortal remains of 46-year-old ex-serviceman Tsewang Tharchin, a Kargil War veteran, who was killed in violence during recent protests for Ladakh statehood, being taken for his last rites amid curfew, in Leh, on September 29, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI
A curfew remained in place in Leh town of Ladakh for the sixth straight day on Monday (September 29, 2025).
The last rites of two more protesters, killed during street protests on September 24, were performed under a tight security cover in Leh town.
The cremation rituals of Rinchen Dadul, 20, from Hanu village, and Tsewang Tharchin, 46, from Skur Buchan village, were held in Leh town, officials said.
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Tharchin served as a soldier in the Ladakh Scouts and participated in the 1999 Kargil War.
Only close relatives and a few members of the Ladakh Apex Body, which is spearheading the agitation for Ladakh’s Statehood and inclusion in the Sixth Schedule, were allowed to attend the final rites, officials said.
On Sunday (September 28, 2025), the final rites of Jigmet Dorjay, 25, a resident of Kharnakling village, and Stanzin Namgyal, 23, a resident of Igoo village, were held in Leh town.
Several pockets of Leh town, especially where the main government offices are located, continue to remain barricaded with concertina wires. All educational institutes in Leh district remain closed. Mobile Internet services also remain suspended as “a precautionary measure”.
Ladakh Lieutenant-Governor Kavinder Gupta chaired a high-level meeting to review the overall security situation, and underlined the need to maintain a tight vigil.
Four civilians were killed and around 80 injured on September 24, when a large group of protesters hit the streets in Leh town, and turned violent outside the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters, and at the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council-Leh. The protests took place in the wake a three-week-long hunger strike since September 10 spearheaded by the since detained climate activist Sonam Wangchuk over the issues of Statehood and inclusion in the Sixth Schedule for Ladakh.
Local, religious, and political organisations have condemned the move to detain Mr. Wangchuk under the National Security Act (NSA).
Meanwhile, a spokesperson of the Ladakh administration said the condition of the 21-year-old woman who was from Leh to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi on September 25, 2025 for advanced medical treatment “is stable”. She is currently admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at the AIIMS Trauma Centre, New Delhi.
In Srinagar, National Conference MP Aga Syed Ruhullah said Ladakh was witnessing a fallout of the measures taken by the Centre in the region, referring to the abrogation Articles 370 and 35A that granted the erstwhile State of J&K special status.
“The National Conference (NC) stands with the people of Ladakh in their struggle. Demanding inclusion in the Sixth Schedule or restoration of Statehood is well within their rights. The challenges being faced in Ladakh are similar to those in Kashmir and Jammu. What was happening in Kashmir is now happening in Ladakh and Jammu as well,” Mr. Ruhullah said.
“We are now experiencing the fallout of the 2019 move that downgraded and split Jammu and Kashmir,” he said, adding that decisions affecting the region were taken in Delhi without local consent.
“Even former BJP supporters in Ladakh are facing cases under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the NSA for expressing disagreement,” Mr. Ruhullah said on Mr. Wangchuk’s detention.
Published – September 29, 2025 10:30 pm IST
