Sonam Wangchuk Demands Judicial Inquiry Report, Higher Compensation and Accountability One Year After Ladakh Violence

Delhi- Exactly one year after four people were killed in police firing in Ladakh and he was detained under the National Security Act, educationist and activist Sonam Wangchuk on Sunday called for the release of the pending judicial inquiry report, enhanced compensation for victims’ families, accountability for his six-month detention, and withdrawal of remaining criminal cases against ordinary Ladakhis.

In a detailed statement, Wangchuk recalled that he was detained on 26 September 2025 under the NSA and shifted nearly 2,000 km away to Jodhpur Central Jail, where he spent almost six months largely in isolation. He was released on 14 March 2026 after the government revoked the detention order while the matter was pending before the Supreme Court.

Two days before his arrest, on 24 September 2025, police firing in Ladakh left four young people dead, one person died by suicide, scores were injured, and many others were arrested on serious charges. Wangchuk said the families of the deceased continue to seek answers that time has not erased.

He noted that the government had constituted a judicial inquiry commission headed by former Supreme Court judge Dr Justice B.S. Chauhan to examine the events of that day. Nearly a year later, the report has still not been made public. Wangchuk listed key questions that remain unanswered: who ordered the firing, whether prescribed stages of crowd control were exhausted before live ammunition was used, why people were hit in vital body parts, and whether the deaths could have been avoided. He said prolonged silence only fuels suspicion that inconvenient facts are being buried, and urged the government to release the findings and hold those responsible accountable, however senior they may be.

On compensation, Wangchuk pointed out that the Ladakh administration had announced ₹15 lakh each for the next of kin of the four killed, along with smaller amounts for the injured. He described the sum as “painfully inadequate,” especially when the Union Territory administration spends crores on repeated festivals and public events. He demanded that compensation for the families of the deceased be raised to a “respectable and dignified” amount and that those who suffered serious or lasting injuries also receive proportionate support. He also recalled the government’s earlier assurance of ₹1 crore compensation in NEET paper-leak related cases linked to the end of his Jantar Mantar fast, stressing that such commitments must not remain mere words.

Addressing his own detention, Wangchuk asked a pointed question: if he was considered such a threat to national security or public order that he had to be held under the NSA far from Ladakh, why was he later released? And if he was not, who accounts for the six months taken from his life? He emphasised that extraordinary powers must carry extraordinary responsibility and that accountability must follow the decision, not the official who may later be transferred or promoted.

He further highlighted that after the September 2025 events, 87 people were named as accused and 81 were arrested. While the administration has approved withdrawal of cases against 20, many others, including ordinary residents and volunteers who had tried to calm the situation, continue to face serious charges, some as severe as attempt to murder. Wangchuk said that where credible evidence of violence exists, the law must take its course, but innocents must not be left without protection. He called for the remaining cases to be handled in the same spirit as those arising from the Jantar Mantar protests.

Looking beyond Ladakh, Wangchuk said his time in prison made him aware of a larger national problem: people spending months or years behind bars as undertrials, only to be acquitted later, with no restoration of lost years, livelihoods or reputations. He urged reforms in undertrial detention, investigation and prosecution accountability, compensation for wrongful deprivation of liberty, and safeguards against misuse of extraordinary laws. Accountability, he stressed, must apply not only to the accused but also to those responsible for malicious, unlawful or grossly negligent investigation, prosecution or detention.

“A democracy should never be afraid of questions,” Wangchuk said. “A strong country is one where citizens can question their government peacefully, where the police are respected but also accountable, where the innocent are protected, and where even the most powerful public authority remains answerable to the law.”

He concluded that he seeks neither revenge nor confrontation, but truth, justice, accountability and systemic reforms so that the events of Ladakh, and similar experiences of ordinary Indians, are not repeated.