"This has nothing to do with Congress": Sonam Wangchuk on Ladakh protests after BJP allegations

Leh (Ladakh) [India], September 25 (ANI): Activist Sonam Wangchuk stated on Thursday that the Congress had no role in the recent protests in Ladakh.

His remarks came after BJP leader Amit Malviya alleged that Congress councillor Phuntsog Stanzin Tsepag had “instigated” protestors who attacked the BJP office in Leh earlier this week.

Responding to allegations concerning protests in Ladakh, Wangchuk told ANI, “What is the name of the person who entered the BJP office? First of all, a few weeks ago, the Congress Party was removed from our Apex body so that it can remain apolitical. So you can understand that this movement has nothing to do with Congress. They were told to move away from the movement until the elections are over. Otherwise, they also have a place in it.”

“How would you feel if I tell you that the picture he was showing was wrong? He was showing a picture of someone else in a hurry; he was showing it to the whole country as a Congress councillor. And in reality, he was someone else; he had distant relatives. And today, the police are harassing him and his family. They are beating them up,” he alleged.

“Now, will they apologise to the country? If he made a mistake, if he wanted to defame someone else in the name of Congress, then they should apologise,” he added.

On Wednesday, Malviya posted on X that Tsepag was seen “instigating the mob” that attacked the BJP office and the Hill Council in Leh, accusing the Congress of “rioting” in Ladakh.

“This man rioting in Ladakh is Phuntsog Stanzin Tsepag, Congress Councillor for Upper Leh Ward. He can be clearly seen instigating the mob and participating in violence that targeted the BJP office and the Hill Council. Is this the kind of unrest Rahul Gandhi has been fantasising about?” Malviya wrote in a post on X.

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey also blamed the Congress, tagging Rahul Gandhi in a post. “A fire was set at @BJP4India office in Ladakh, @RahulGandhi ji, its leader is your GEN Z, Phuntsog Stanzin Tsepag, who is an elected ward member from the @INCIndia party. Will be the consequence of playing with fire? Stop challenging BJP workers,” Dubey also posted on X.

On Wednesday, large protests in Leh demanding statehood and inclusion of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule turned violent, with clashes between police and demonstrators and damage to the BJP office.

Meanwhile, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said the crisis was of the BJP government’s “own creation”.

“The loss of precious lives in Ladakh is tragic. It’s a grim reminder of the government’s failed promises. In 2019, from the floor of Parliament, the nation was assured that the humiliation being inflicted on the people of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir then would usher in peace. Six years later, the trouble has only deepened. Far from restoring normalcy in the valley, the Centre’s shortsightedness has pushed Jammu and Ladakh also into an incinerator of violence. This crisis is the BJP government’s own creation – one it now seeks to unfairly ignore. Ladakh’s demand for inclusion under the Sixth Schedule, for dignity and for the protection of their identity is both legitimate and just. It deserves not neglect, but compassion and statesmanship,” he wrote in a post on X. (ANI)

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