Overview
- A region-wide shutdown called by the Leh Apex Body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance closed markets across Leh and Kargil on Tuesday, June 23, as thousands attended rallies to press the Centre for action.
- Local leaders say draft minutes circulated after a May 22 meeting with an MHA sub‑committee omitted key agreements on an elected legislature with real powers and Article 371-style protections, and both bodies refused to sign the document.
- The protest combines long-standing constitutional demands—statehood or Sixth Schedule protections, land and job safeguards, and control over the bureaucracy—with immediate grievances over a new excise policy, land digitisation and proposed privatisation of the power department.
- Organisers kept the shutdown largely peaceful and allowed transport to run to protect tourists and residents, while leaders warned they will expand public actions unless the Centre formally corrects and implements the agreed points.
- The mobilisation builds on years of talks since 2021 and a volatile backdrop that includes the 2019 creation of the Ladakh UT without a legislature and the bloodshed and detentions after the September 24, 2025 protests, which help explain the current mistrust.