Sonam Wangchuk, who is spearheading a mass agitation demanding Statehood and Sixth Schedule status for the Union Territory of Ladakh, was detained under the provisions of the National Security Act (NSA) on Friday (September 26, 2025), two days after police action against violent protests in Leh left four civilians dead. Internet services in Leh were suspended after his detention.After his detention, the Leh Apex Body (LAB) stressed that Mr. Wangchuk had not played any role in the violence in Leh on Wednesday (September 24, 2025). The LAB plans to send a delegation to Delhi on September 29, 2025 in a bid to resume talks on Statehood demands with the Union government.Mr. Wangchuk, 59, was detained by a police team led by Ladakh Director General of Police (DGP) S.D. Jamwal, and will now be shifted out of Ladakh, according to official sources. According to Mr. Wangchuk’s wife Gitanjali Angmo he was being taken to Jodhpur. “Police told us that Sonam (Wangchuk) is being taken to Jodhpur,” Ms. Angmo told The Hindu.Earlier in the day, Mr. Wangchuk had been asked to accompany the police party when he was scheduled to address the press around 2:30 p.m. However, permission for the press conference was later denied.Curfew, detentionsThe detention of the prominent climate activist and Ramon Magsaysay Award recipient came as Leh reeled under a curfew for the second straight day. Dozens of local residents, including many of Mr. Wangchuk’s supporters, were rounded up in Leh over a 24 hour-period.In Kargil, another major town in Ladakh, the authorities have imposed Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), barring gatherings of more than four people. In the wake of Mr. Wangchuk’s detention, shopkeepers downed their shutters in the main market.Violent protestsThe use of the NSA, which allows for a prolonged period in jail, indicated that Mr. Wangchuk’s preventive detention was triggered by the recent violent protests in Leh, and not in relation to any of the other cases filed against the activist. On Wednesday, protesters, mainly youth, had resorted to violence at the BJP headquarters and the Secretariat of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council-Leh. Four civilians were killed and 90 others were injured by the security forces taking action against the protesters. The violence broke out on the 15th day of a hunger strike by Mr. Wangchuk and his associates. His plan for a three-week hunger strike was meant to press for the early resumption of talks between the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Ladakhi representatives for a “result oriented” dialogue on the key demands of Statehood and Sixth Schedule status. However, Mr. Wangchuk called off his hunger strike after the violence broke out, and called for peace in the region.Talks after cremation of youthsMeanwhile, Chering Dorjey Lakrook, president of the Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA) and co-chairman of the LAB, an umbrella group, said that a seven-member delegation will go ahead and visit Delhi on September 29 to prepare the ground for talks with the high-powered MHA committee.No talks can be held as yet between the LAB and MHA in Leh because of the pending last rites of the four civilians killed on September 24. They will be cremated on September 28 and 29, the LBA said.“We will seek early talks on two key issues of Statehood and Sixth Schedule after we travel to Delhi on September 29,” Mr. Lakrook said. ‘Disproportionate force’Mr. Lakrook also stressed that Mr. Wangchuk had no role in the violence that erupted on September 24. “This narrative that Mr. Wangchuk provoked protesters is wrong. It was the news of two protesters, who were on hunger strike and were hospitalised on September 24, which caused concern among youth. The next day around 7,000 people, mostly youth, joined the hunger strike,” Mr. Lakrook said.He said the youth protesting were educated but unemployed. “Attempts are being made to make it appear ‘anti-national.’ They vandalised BJP flags, not the national flag, and removed Ambedkar’s portrait before setting fire to the BJP office,” he added.The LBA, the People’s Movement for 6th Schedule for Ladakh, and the Ladakh Territorial Congress have demanded a probe into the September 24 violence and accused the administration of using “disproportionate force” against protesters. Growing angerThere is growing anger among religious, political, and civil society bodies in Ladakh over Mr. Wangchuk’s detention. “If Mr. Wangchuk has been arrested for his peaceful agitation, we condemn the same,” said Ladakh MP Haji Hanifa.Omar Abdullah, Chief Minister of the neighbouring Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, said that Mr. Wangchuk’s detention was unfortunate but not surprising. “What’s difficult to understand is why the Centre has failed to fulfil its promises,” said Mr. Abdullah, who is a former CM of the erstwhile State of J&K, which had included Ladakh.Congress leader G.A. Mir said the move to detain the “honourable Gandhian activist is unwarranted”. Mr. Wangchuk’s detention is “deeply disturbing”, said Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti Mehbooba Mufti. “A lifelong advocate of peace, sustainability and truth is being punished merely for demanding that promises be kept. Today, Leh is under curfew with internet shut down, a grim echo of what Kashmir has long endured. In today’s India, speaking truth to power comes at a heavy cost or how else could a man who stood for peace and non-violence his entire life end up behind bars?” she said.