A month after discussions between Ladakh representatives and a Union Home Ministry (MHA) committee in Delhi, the Union Territory witnessed a complete shutdown on Tuesday as local groups accused the Centre of backtracking on assurances made during the talks.
Markets in Leh and Kargil remained closed, while large crowds gathered to hear leaders of the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), the two key regional organisations that had called the bandh.
The groups allege that draft minutes of the May 22 meeting shared with LAB co-chairman Chering Dorjay Lakrook excluded key assurances, including the proposal for a legislative body with authority over the bureaucracy and constitutional safeguards for Ladakh on the lines of Article 371.
LAB and KDA have warned that if these “two core demands” are not reflected in the final minutes, they will revive their earlier push for full statehood and Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh.
LAB member and environmentalist Sonam Wangchuk was among those present during the May discussions, which both sides had earlier described as “historic”.
At Leh’s Polo Ground on Tuesday, speakers from LAB and allied organisations reiterated their concerns before an estimated gathering of around 7,000 people. Representatives from the Ladakh Buddhist Association, Ladakh Gonpa Association, Anjuman Imamia, Anjuman Moin-ul-Islam, and the Christian community also participated.
Speakers also raised additional issues, including a proposed excise policy change permitting wider liquor sales, privatisation of the Ladakh Power Development Department (LPDD), and concerns over land and tourism policy.
Lakrook has said he flagged what he called “omissions” in the draft minutes and requested corrections, but the revised version has not been issued.
Multiple rounds of talks have been held between Ladakh representatives and the Centre since 2023. The dialogue process was disrupted after clashes on September 24, 2025, in Leh during protests demanding statehood, in which four people were killed and over 80 injured in alleged police firing. Wangchuk was later accused of inciting the violence, arrested, booked under the National Security Act, and lodged in Jodhpur jail before his detention was revoked in March this year.
