Kejriwal slams BJP over Ladakh unrest, says people fighting for right to choose govt

New Delhi, Sep 25 (PTI) AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said the situation in Ladakh was “extremely alarming” and accused the BJP of snatching away democratic rights of the people by denying them an elected government.

In a post on X in Hindi, Kejriwal said, “What is happening in Ladakh today is extremely alarming. Every true patriot should stand with the people of Ladakh. Did we take freedom from the British just so that the public would become slaves to the BJP instead of the British? Revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad sacrificed their lives for democracy so that every Indian would have the right to choose their own government.” He alleged that the BJP, “intoxicated by power”, was converting states into Union Territories and “suppressing the people’s voice”.

“What are the people of Ladakh demanding? They are simply asking for their right to vote, the right to choose their government. But the BJP is suppressing their voice,” Kejriwal said.

His remarks came amid continuing tension in Ladakh, where at least 50 people were detained on Thursday as police and paramilitary forces strictly enforced curfew in violence-hit Leh.

Four people were killed, and over 80 were injured in widespread clashes that broke out on Wednesday during a shutdown called by the Leh Apex Body (LAB) over demands for statehood and extension of the Sixth Schedule to the Union Territory.

The violence saw arson and street clashes, including the torching of the BJP office, several vehicles and vandalisation of the Hill Council headquarters, prompting an indefinite curfew in Leh.

Strict prohibitory orders were also imposed in Kargil, where the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) called a shutdown in support of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who was on a hunger strike that was later called off following the clashes. PTI MHS AMJ AMJ