Amid these protests four individuals dead, dozens injured, and urged the authorities to declare curfew and suspend mobile internet services, Indian officials stated.

The moment Sonam Wangchuk protested for granting statehood to Ladakh, Indian forces arrested him under the National Security Act and threw him into Jodhpur Jail, more than 1,500 kilometers away from Ladakh.

According to Indian media, under the NSA, a person can be kept imprisoned for up to 12 months without trial.

According to authorities, violence erupted on Wednesday when protesters burned buildings and police vehicles after they had retreated from a hunger strike location where Wangchuk had fasted for 14 days. Police fired during clashes, saying they did so in self-defence as riots turned violent.

Wangchuk, however, rejected the allegations, insisting that the violence reflected deep public frustration with New Delhi’s policies.

Ladakh, which is a Buddhist-Muslim enclave, lost its semi-autonomous status in 2019 when the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke it off from Jammu and Kashmir and brought it under federal rule. Locals have since protested for statehood, constitutional protections, and quotas in employment for residents, lest they should lose their tribal protections due to demographic shifts.

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Friday s police crackdown is as negotiations between Ladakh s leadership and federal authorities continue. Talks that started in 2023 were scheduled to resume on October 6, but the recent unrest has increased tensions in the volatile region.

In spite of curfews and restrictions on communication, thousands of Ladakhis are still demanding special constitutional status and the right to constitute elected local bodies.

It is pertinent to note that this is the same Sonam Wangchuk on whom Bollywood made a film like  Three Idiots .  Wangchuk was presented to the world as an ambassador of education, innovation, peace and as the face of India.