From Celebration to Confrontation: Understanding Ladakh’s Demand for Statehood

Sonam Wangchuk has been arrested. Yesterday an FIR was filed; today came the arrest. Authorities allege he instigated the crowd, and his NGO’s funding is under investigation. Four people are dead. Officials believe these events did not spiral on their own—there is talk of a “foreign hand” and claims that Congress leaders fuelled the unrest. Parallels are being drawn with political turbulence in Nepal.

All this unfolds after Ladakh faced an unprecedented crisis. Carved out of the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir on 5 August 2019, Ladakh became a Union Territory (UT) without a legislature under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act. The decision initially won broad support, especially in Leh, fulfilling a long-standing aspiration for direct governance from the Centre and freedom from Srinagar’s political dominance.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which drove the reorganisation, had publicly promised two key measures:

Consideration of Sixth Schedule protections under the Constitution to safeguard tribal rights through autonomous councils.

Eventual statehood for Ladakh to ensure participatory democracy.

Sixth Schedule

Originally crafted for India’s North-Eastern states, the Sixth Schedule provides Autonomous District Councils with legislative, executive and financial powers over land, culture and resources. Ladakh’s population is over 95 percent Scheduled Tribe—Buddhists, Shia Muslims, Balti, Changpa and others—making a strong case for similar constitutional protection. While designed for the Northeast, Parliament can extend its provisions elsewhere.

Integration Through Statehood

Granting full statehood—or at least a legislature on the model of Puducherry—would deepen local participation and ease fears of cultural erosion, demographic imbalance and ecological vulnerability. A UT with a legislature (as in Delhi or Puducherry) could be created by statute under Article 239, while full statehood requires the usual Article 3 process. Either step would provide an elected assembly and ministerial government without weakening the Centre’s authority.

Importantly, the Centre would lose little by offering these safeguards. Sixth Schedule autonomy strengthens cooperative federalism and enhances national integration through trust-building.

Wangchuk’s Rise

Since 2005, Sonam Wangchuk—a globally recognised engineer-activist and Ramon Magsaysay awardee—has become Ladakh’s most credible voice on climate change, sustainable development and tribal rights over land and resources. His hunger strikes and peaceful campaigns in 2023–24 galvanised Ladakhi youth and bridged the traditional Leh–Kargil religious divide.

Yet the absence of a clear roadmap on Sixth Schedule protection or statehood has let frustration fester, breeding speculation and mistrust.

Autonomy Is Not Secession

Providing Sixth Schedule safeguards or statehood would not weaken India’s sovereignty. On the contrary, it would reinforce national integration by recognising Ladakh’s unique ecological and cultural identity. As a climate-sensitive and strategic frontier bordering China and Pakistan, Ladakh needs participatory governance to ensure both sustainability and security. Any devolution of powers must, of course, be coordinated with defence and security agencies so that operational control in border zones remains intact.

The Centre appeared unprepared for the intensity of the protests, which united Ladakh’s Buddhist and Muslim communities despite historic differences. Instead of proactive dialogue, the government often fell back on the familiar “foreign hand” narrative—an overused trope in Indian politics that does little to address the region’s genuine, locally rooted grievances.

The central government failed to gauge the mood on the ground, leaving the field to agitators and their calls. Statehood with Sixth Schedule protections could have worked in tandem with the Ladakh Scouts and the military hierarchy, offering a cohesive framework for governance in this sensitive border region.