Rahul says PM ‘betrayed’ people of Ladakh, seeks ‘impartial’ inquiry

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “betraying” the people of Ladakh and demanded an impartial judicial probe into the killing of four protesters in police firing in the Union Territory.

Among those killed on September 24 was Tsewang Tharchin, a Kargil War veteran and son of an Army soldier. Tharchin himself had served at the Siachen Glacier and fought in the 1999 war. His killing during the agitation for Sixth Schedule status has sparked political outrage.

Rahul Gandhi, currently on a four-nation tour of South America, posted on X a video of Tharchin’s father and said, “Father in the army, son in the army - patriotism runs in their blood. Yet the BJP government shot and killed this brave son of the nation, simply because he stood up for Ladakh and his rights. The father’s pain-filled eyes ask one question, is this the reward for serving the nation today?”

He added: “We demand that an impartial judicial inquiry be conducted into these killings in Ladakh, and the culprits be given the harshest punishment... (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi ji, you have betrayed the people of Ladakh. They are demanding their rights. Communicate with them - stop the politics of violence and fear.”

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also launched a scathing attack on the Prime Minister. In his post, Kharge said: “Ladakh’s sorrow is the sorrow of the entire nation. Shaheed Tsewang Tharchin fulfilled his duty towards Mother India in the Kargil War... What did he get in return? A bullet from the Modi government in Ladakh! The father was also in the army, the son was also in the army. When our 20 brave soldiers sacrificed their lives for the country at the LAC in Ladakh in Galwan, Modi Ji himself gave China a CLEAN CHIT! If he didn’t remember the valour of our brave soldiers then, what chance is there now? Those who can give China a CLEAN CHIT, what respect will they show for the martyrdom of brave soldiers like our Tsewang Tharchin! This is the BJP’s hollow nationalism!”

Earlier, Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh had termed the killing of Tharchin “a matter of the deepest anguish and outrage.” In his post, Ramesh noted that Tharchin was protesting peacefully for Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh when he was shot. “It should be a matter of the deepest anguish and outrage that he was killed along with three others in the firing on the agitationists five days back,” he said.

The protest in Leh on September 24 turned violent, with demonstrators setting a local BJP office on fire and allegedly pelting stones at the police and CRPF. Police firing left four dead and several injured.

Two days later, on September 26, climate activist Sonam Wangchuk was detained under the National Security Act and lodged in Jodhpur jail, further escalating tensions in the region.