September 29, 2025 • 27 mins
First, The Indian Express' Deeptiman Tiwary talks about Ladakh, where protests demanding statehood turned violent last week, leaving four people dead and activist Sonam Wangchuk detained.
Next, The Indian Express' Aiswarya Raj discusses Uttarakhand, where a recruitment exam scandal has triggered fierce protests after allegations of paper leaks. (15:09)
In the end, we also discuss Prime Minister Narendra Modi writing the foreword to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s autobiography. (24:23)
Hosted by Ichha Sharma
Produced and written by Shashank Bhargava and Ichha Sharma
Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar
Next, The Indian Express' Aiswarya Raj discusses Uttarakhand, where a recruitment exam scandal has triggered fierce protests after allegations of paper leaks. (15:09)
In the end, we also discuss Prime Minister Narendra Modi writing the foreword to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s autobiography. (24:23)
Hosted by Ichha Sharma
Produced and written by Shashank Bhargava and Ichha Sharma
Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
In this episode, we talk about Utrakhand, where a recruit
exam scandal has triggered fierce protests after allegations of paper leaks.
We also discussed Prime Minister and arranged remote the writing
the forward to Italian Prime Minister Georgia Melane's autobiography. But
first we talk about Laddak, where protests demanding statehood turned
(00:22):
violent last week, leaving four people dead. An activist son
Nom Vuncture detained. Hi, I'm Acha Sharma and you're listening
to three Things the Indian Express New show. It was
last Wedness Day that protests in Lay demanding statehood and
(00:45):
six scheduled protections for Ladakh turned violent, leaving four people
dead and over fifty injured. Following the violence, during which
the BJP office in Lay was also set on fire,
the police launched a crackdown and detained over fifty people
and later climate activist Sonam wang Chuk, the most prominent
(01:05):
phase of the protests was detained under the stringent National
Security Act. To understand what lies at the heart of
these protests and what happened on the ground, my colleague
Shashanghargav speaks to the inexpresses Di Di Mantewari, who has
been reporting on this for the papers.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Protests we know have been going on since Jenk was
bifurcated in twenty nineteen, and although earlier people in Ladakh
wanted it to be a union territory, after it became one,
they realized that they're actually worse off because now without
an assembly, no one was actually listening to their demands, right.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Right, So yes, you know, there has been an agitation
for UT since the eighties in Ladak, and you know,
it has finally materialized for them. And initially they were
all very very happy about it. In fact, Sona wang Chuk,
who is now arrested under NSA, was all praise for
the Modi government for having given the UT status to Ladakh.
(02:06):
But they soon realized that, you know, the reason that
they were demanding a UT status was because at that
time they found that Shinegar was far from them, you know,
that Schneggar was not listening. Once they became uty, they
realized that they LEAs farther and that they were now
being listened to even lesser. So as it happens, you know,
with the bureaucratic setup which is not directly accountable to
(02:27):
the public, but to the past that we at the top.
You know, sometimes it can happen that it can get
disconnected from the concerns or immediate concerns of the public
and be more focused on the larger developmental agenda that
the government imagines for a region, and that can sort
of create a kind of a disconnect between the people
and the administration. That appears to be something that the
(02:49):
people here are talking about. So, yes, they have been
disappointed with the formation of the UT and within a
year of the formation of the UT, this agitation, you know,
are taking shape. They say that they had imagined that,
you know, when a UTY would be formed, there would
also be a legislature, but there was no legislature here, and.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Is that the main reason they want statehood to have
political representation, to have more control over the decision making
of the region.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
The issues here are more complex than that, you know,
civil society organizations here. They say that this is a
penta frustration of the youth who have not had enough
jobs since the UTY was formed, and that has been
building up as a frustration among the youth. And this
was a spontaneous reaction. Obviously, the administration has been indicating
a conspiracy, involvement of the Congress, involvement of even foreign hand.
(03:41):
That said, there has been an agitation going on in
Ladak for almost five years at least, you know where
there has been hunger strikes, There has been a padiatra
to Delhi. And there has been a four point demand
by civil society organizations here which includes EPEX, Body Lay
and Carcial Democratic Alliance, that Ladak should be given six
schedule status. Ladakh should be given statehood. There should be
(04:05):
a Public Service Commission for recruitment, which is generally only
available to states, but they're asking for an exception for
a UT and that there should be two MPs, one
in Lay and one in Kharkil. Right now, there is
only one MP for the entire La Dark region.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Right in the demand for a sixth schedule is crucial
because this is what would allow Ladakh to have autonomous
councils to make laws regarding forest management, agriculture, administration of
villages and towns, marriages and social customs. So that's something
to keep in mind. But you were talking about how
frustrated the youth are about the lack of opportunities. Tell
(04:44):
us a bit more about that and how things have
been since Ladakh was turned into a Union territory.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
You know, we have to understand that Ladakh is a
very very highly literate state. Any family you go, you
will find youngsters who are at least class twelfth. So
you know, once you achieve a certain level of education,
you're looking for a certain kind of employment. Okay, now
that employment, you know, civil society organizations here say have
been hard to come by. This has been due to
(05:11):
a variety of reasons, because there is a natural lack
of opportunity in a region like Ladakh, which is cold desert.
Then after you know, the bifurcation of Jamun Kashmir into
two Union territories of Ladakh and Jamun Kashmir, people from
Ladak could no more apply for jobs which were there
in j and K. Many people from Ladakh could apply
for jobs which were there in j and K, and
(05:32):
you know, they would go and serve there. But now
it is separate uty, so they cannot apply there. And
there is no public service commission for Ladakh, so there
is no special service system for Ladakh which people can
apply for. So there have been youngsters who've been you know,
before the bifurcation started, they were preparing for J and
K Civil services exams, and then there was a bifurcation.
(05:53):
Then they kept waiting for something of that sort to
happen in Ladakh that did not happen. Then they passed
their age of applying for certain jobs. So it has
been six years. So that sort of has been building
up as a frustration among the youth. But beyond that,
also creation of jobs has been slow in Ladak. Civil
society organizations alleged that you know, for the longest time,
(06:13):
Ladak could not even have a recruitment policy in place.
So all of this, tumulatively, these civil society organizations alleged,
has led to anger among the youth and dissatisfaction with
the BJP administration here.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
And you know, this was perhaps the first time that
these protests turned violent, especially in such a big way.
Tell us, what do we know about what happened on
the ground.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
See, this is a matter of investigation, so we don't
exactly know, you know, how things unfolded, what happened, whether
there was a conspiracy or whether this was a spontaneous
overflow of you know, frustration or emotions among the youth.
But what we know about the situation is that the
lay Epex Body and Sonombangtu we had declared a thirty
(06:56):
five day fast and it was sort of the fifteenth
day of the fast when this violence happened. Before that,
on the fourteenth day, what had happened that two elderly
people who were sitting on a fast with Sonomantuk, and
this was a very small group, you know, there weren't
too many people. This was a very small group of
people who were sitting on a fast. So they fell
sick and were you know, taken to the hospital. You know,
(07:16):
the videos of them being taken to the hospital apparently
went viral in lay and this sort of created resentment
and anger among the young people. At the same time,
Laypex Bodies youth wing had called for youth to join
the protests on the fifteenth day of the fast, so
which they say that you know, the youth who had
(07:38):
until then been not very enthusiastic about joining the protests,
suddenly joined the protest in such large numbers that they
were not expecting and where they were generally managing, you know,
five hundred six hundred people, suddenly there were some seven
five hundred people at the protest site. This was two
huge sort of a gathering that they were used to
(07:59):
and then some youth among these people, while speeches were
going on and you know about demands and everything, they
broke off and started engaging into violent activity. APEX Body
Lay says that their leaders, including their chief Stan Chemang,
tried to reason with the youth, but a stone was
thrown at him as well. People did not listen to
(08:20):
even wantchuk and you know, youth leaders or the APEXS
body and this group of some youth actually went out
of control and then they went around, you know, setting
vehicles on fire, you know, attacking the VJP office which
was also torched. Even they attacked the secretariat and LAHDC
(08:40):
office which is the local hill council office here. So
there was large scale stone pelting on security forces, on
government buildings. There was arson and eventually the police had
to resort to firing in which four people died. Now
this is a matter of investigation, whether there was an instigation,
whether some political party was involved, whether some foreign power
(09:03):
was involved. How did a protest which has been going
on for four or five years absolutely peacefully suddenly turned violent.
How did this happen? So that remains a matter of
investigation and the truth will come out sooner or later.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Right now, Sonam Wangchuk has been detained under the stringent
National Security Act. Tell us what are the allegations that
the administration has made against wang Chuk?
Speaker 3 (09:27):
Okay, So, administration has made some serious allegations against Sonomangchuk.
It is said that, you know, he made provocative speeches.
He talked about protesting Nepal, Shri Lanka and Bangladesh and
we all know what has happened there. Then in a
recent press conference, the DGP of Ladakh als that you know,
he was in touch with a Pakistani pio who was
(09:48):
sending information back to Pakistan. So all these allegations have
been made against him, and he has been, you know,
sort of branded as a person who was having some
anti national connections even before this violence actually started. If
we look at how things you know, developed, we will
understand Lea's discomfort with Sonomanchuk. Before these protests itself, Delhi
(10:09):
had sort of started a CBA inquiry against wang Chuk's
institute here, which is of alternative studies in Ladak. There
was an FCR investigation which had been opened. Then there
were it summons which were sent to Sonomankchuk which Sonomankchuk
says that he doesn't understand because la dark business I
exempted from my income tax. So sort of things are
(10:31):
building up already and now with his NSA arrest, it
has come full circle.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
And deepman, we understand that all this happened just days
before a meeting which was to take place between the
Union Home Ministry and Laddak representatives. And interestingly, wang Chuk
was kept out of this. So can you tell us
about the significance of that.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
See, wang Chuk was actually never part of the lay
Epex body. Let me give you some background on how
this entire thing started. It all started with you know,
student agitation in the beginning in December twenty Nintheen, and
then it started, you know, bringing various sections of society
together and Sonam Wangchuk at that time organized a study
(11:14):
tour of socio religious leaders from Ladak to Northeast. They
came back and came to the conclusion that you know, Ladak,
like the Northeast, would require six schedule protection and that's
when you know, they started with the demand of six
schedule and statehood so that they have public representation. And
then you know, Sonim wang Chuk started these hunger strikes
(11:35):
and protests even as socio religious leaders got together and
formed what we today know as the APEX Body LAY
and in Kargil against social religious leaders came together to
form Cargill Democratic Alliance. These two outfits came together to
demand SIK schedule and statehood with the government, and they
(11:57):
entered into negotiations with the government until now. Let's remember, Sona.
Wangchuk is not part of any of these organizations. It
was only until very very recently around May when Wangchuk
was actually made part of a subcommittee of the High
Powered Committee of EPEX Body LAY. You know what we
understand and know is that Delhi was very uncomfortable with it.
(12:18):
In fact, a meeting was supposed to take place in
June and that meeting never happened. And the reason we
understand is because Delhi did not want wang Chuk on
the negotiating table. Del was uncomfortable with him because it
thought that he was an activist and it was more
comfortable dealing and negotiating with public representatives who Delhi thought
(12:40):
would be better for negotiations and would understand Deli's position
as well. So this back and forth kept happening, and
so the meetings kept getting delayed and then recently, eventually
the High Powered Committee decided that Wangchuk would not be
part of the delegations that will negotiate with Delhi on
demands of Ladakh, and then the government agreed to having
(13:02):
a meeting and Octobu six was fixed for that meeting
to happen.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
And you know, considering that NSAY is a very stringent law,
tell us what powers does the state get under it
and what options does wang Chuk have now?
Speaker 3 (13:15):
So, as you said, you know, this is a very
stringent law. It's not a criminal charge, it's a detention order.
So you don't have to prove anything in a court
of law with very substantive evidence. You just have to
give believable cause of action that this person may be
threat to the society if he's kept outside, or may
engage in some kind of criminal activity. But it gives
(13:38):
tremendous powers to the state. You know, people can be
detained for up to one to two years under this act,
which is obviously extendable by there is an advisory board,
you know, which has to confirm these orders and they
are periodically extended until you can you know, appeal in
the High Court or the Supreme court and get it coshed.
So not only the person can be detained, he can
be taken to a different place altogether, move the cross
(14:00):
states and subjected to any condition that the government sets
on him. So it's a very stringent law and has
been used in the past on in several cases. As
we would remember a pulsing of Wristman Jab. They was
arrested last year and he was taken to Dibrugar Jail
from Punjab and he remains detained there still. So this
(14:21):
can lead to long incarcerations without any trial. Although there
is a provision where you can go and make a
representation to the government and to the High Court, but
you know there are serious limitations to that that detaining
has no right to legal representation before that advisory poort
and the government may withhold facts of the case in
public interest, so you know, you generally have to go
(14:42):
to a higher court, either the High Court or the
Supreme Court to get relief. Right now, Wang Chuk's options
obviously are as mandated within the Act, is that you know,
he can file a representation to the government or wait
for the Advisory boards review which will happen within three
weeks and make representation there then he can move the
High Court or the Supreme Court under a jurisdiction to
(15:02):
contest the legality of his detention and sort of seek
the revocation of the government order. But beyond this his
options are limited.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
And next we talk about Utra Khund, where a recruitment
exam meant to offer young graduates a pathway to stable
government jobs has instead erupted into a scandal. A few
days after thousands of hopeful candidates sat for the Utra
Hunt Subordinate Services Selection Commission test, better known as the
UK Triple sc Exam, allegations surfaced that question papers had
(15:39):
been leaked mit exam and that answers were circulated in
real time. The controversy triggered fierce protests and renewed anger
over past paper leaks and fresh questions about the credibility
of the state's recruitment process.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
Now.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
According to the fire registered around eight am on Sunday, Suman,
a professor at a college in Tehri Gerval, received a
WhatsApp message from a number belonging to a man named
Khalid Malik So.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
She knew Khalid from their time in Rishiki. She was
working as a tax inspector and he was working as
a junior engineer in a contractual position in Rishi Kijh.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
This is The Indian Express's Ashwaryeraj, who reported on the
story for the paper.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
And Khalid on the day of the exam had reached
out to Suman saying that he needed help with solving
a paper that his sister was appearing for.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
However, that wasn't the case. It was Khalid who was
actually taking the exam. A day before, he had managed
to smuggle a second phone into the exam hall and
on the day of the test, he sent three pages
of the question paper to his primary phone, which his
sister Sabia was handling, acting as a middleman. Sabia then
forwarded the papers to Suman, who promptly sent the answers back.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
So later week to know that these three pages were
shared with one of the protesters, one of the leaders
of the protest, and he circulated it online alleging that
there is a paper league. So incidentally, what we also
have to understand is the allegations become fuz or what
people are concerned about is it's not just limited to
(17:19):
this particular incident. They're alleging that there is something larger
at play here. There is a bigger rigging because a
day before the exam there was an arrest by the
Dradun Police of Hukkam Singh, who was earlier arrested for
a same paper league in twenty twenty one. So back
then he was arrested for allegedly leaking the paper before
(17:40):
the exam and giving it out to candidates, solving the
question paper and giving it out of the candidates. So
this has created more scrutiny of the committee commission and
the students are alleging that there is more to this
and it's not just limited to one particular aspirint shared
in three pages with the question paper. We also have
to understand the fact that since twelve questions are out,
(18:03):
the names of people in the list depends on you know,
fraction of marks, So twelve questions matter a lot in
these recruitment tests. So at least this is what the
protesters have been saying. So there's another question of jammers
in the exam hall because this particular school where the
exam was conducted has the media cell in charge of
(18:23):
BJP as its principle, and what he has said is
there was no jammer in that particular hall, there were
eighteen halls and fifteen jammers, so they had to divide
one jammer between two classes, which might have been the
reason why he could send the pictures across to another person.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
Now, for the protesters, like Keshwara mentioned, this was not
about one candidate or one exam hall. It was about
a commission that has repeatedly failed to safeguard its own processes.
They pointed out that in twenty twenty one and again
in twenty twenty two, similar controversies took place in the
recruitment tests, each time triggering waves of youth protests. And
(19:04):
here Hukkam Singh Rabat becomes a key player.
Speaker 4 (19:08):
So Hakkam Rabat was a part of BJP. He was
earlier a Punchaiyat member in Uttarakashi and then he joined
the BJP. But after his name suffers in the twenty
twenty one controversy, he was expelled from the party. He
even was in jail for more than a year and
then he was let go off he was out on bail.
So when these protests happened in twenty twenty three, this
(19:29):
had put the government in a tight spot and they
had come up with an act against cheating, So they
had a lot of sections which would make anyone who
facilitates cheating or you know, tampering with the OMR, they
would get a prison term of at least even life
imprisonment and more than ten crores in fine. So there
were stringent terms. And what the protesters are saying that
(19:52):
if there is something as stringent as this, how could
Hukkam Singh do it again? And despite being in jail,
despite the being imprisoned already, he has come back, he
has come out and he is demanding to peace fifteen
lack per person to help them pass. So this has
created a lot of curiosity and a lot of controversy
surrounding the act itself and how stringent it really is.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Now over the past few days, this controversy even took
a communal turn when Chief Minister push Ker Singhami described
the case as knuckle jihad or cheating jihad, pointing to
the religion of the accused.
Speaker 4 (20:30):
So this has created more controversy, or this has created
more chatter among protesters because they have rejected this narrative,
saying that it's easier to communalize this and you can
just make it about these two people, because we have
had instances where a larger force was at play, a
larger nexus was seen. So they're saying that Hakkamsingh Punkash God,
(20:51):
the second accused who was arrested a day before the exam,
all these people do not belong to the minority community,
and you're just making it easier to get out of
the whole problem. And there must be more than this.
There must be a probe into the functioning of the
Commission and not just one recruitment test. So they have
demanded a probe, a CBI probe along with a re exam,
(21:13):
so cancelation of the twenty first September examine, a re examination.
And the opposition has rejected this narrative that this cannot
be called knakl jihad, and they have said that this
is such an easy route to pursue because someone is
alleging a larger problem or problem with the Commission and
you're just making it about a particular minority or you're
(21:35):
just limiting it to particular individuals. So they have also
alleged that there was this problem, there was inability from
the the part of the prosecution who could not establish
Hakkamsingh as accused as the criminal who was behind the
former paper leaks. So they have gone after the Act.
The Congress has alleged that there are loopholes, there are
(21:55):
problems with the Act as well as the party. They
have blamed the party for being in cahoots with people
like Hakkamsingh. Meanwhile, what further added to the confusion was
the government last week abruptly changing the judge supervising the
special investigation Team. So another thing that has suffers over
the last few days is how the SIET which was
(22:18):
supposed to probe into this particular incident, was earlier under
the supervision of BS Verma, who was a retired High
Court justice, and on Friday the government went back on
its worth and they said that they will assign a
new judge, yu See Dihani. So this has also created
some chatter among the protesters regarding, you know, the change
in the supervisor, the person who is overseeing the committee.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
Yesterday, however, the agitation reached a turning point when Chief
Minister Hamy visited the site, appealed directly to the protesters
and promised to recommend a CBI probe. He also assured
them that cases filed against demonstrators would be withdrawn. With that,
the students for now have agreed to suspend their protest.
Speaker 4 (23:03):
On Monday evening, Chief Minster push Kasinkami met with the
students who have been protesting at the Burier Ground in
their adon and promised that a CBI probe will be
conducted into the alleged paper league and the protest had
entered the eighth day when the Chief Minister met with
the students and told them that he would recommend the probe,
and he has also promised the students that all the
(23:25):
fires and complaints that have been registered against protesting students
will be quashed will be withdrawn immediately. The protesters have
told us that they will reconvene on October tenth to
see if the demands have been met, and unmet, they
would go ahead with the protests. So far, every protester
across the state have agreed to call the strike off,
(23:48):
and the Congress has said that they would still continue
to go ahead with their earlier announced march to the
CM's residence on October third. They have said that the
previous governments under diff chief ministers, especially in twenty seventeen
went through interessing Rabat was a Chief minister. They had
promised a probe into the enaged seventy four scam, but
(24:09):
despite it being eight years after the announcement, nothing had
come through. So they have re iterated that they would
continue with their march to the Sam's residence.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
And finally we turned to the world of diplomacy and
the ties between India and Italy. It was back in
twenty twenty three that Italian Prime Minister Georgia Melanie visited India.
This was the first high level visit from Italy in
five years, after a period when both countries were working
to repair strained relations. These tensions dated back to the
(24:44):
twenty twelve case of two Italian marines accused of killing
Indian fishermen and later took corruption allegations involving a helicopter
deal between India and Augusta Westland, a subsidiary of the
Italian defense major Finnmaca. By the time Melanie arrived, however,
much of that repair work was complete and the visit
(25:05):
elevated the relationship to a strategic partnership. Now. Since then,
both leaders have gone out of their way to highlight
their personal warmth, something that the Internet quickly latched onto,
especially when the hashtag Melody, a portmanteau of their names,
trended after a friendly selfie at COP twenty eight. In fact,
(25:26):
even earlier this year, a short clip from the G
seven in Canada went viral where Melanie was hurt telling
Mody you are the best and I'm trying to be
as you now. As an extension of this bonnamy, we've
learned that Prime Minister Mody has written the foreword to
Melanie's autobiography, I'm Georgia, My Root's my Principle. In it,
(25:46):
he calls the book Melanie's Monkey Path, praising her as
a patriot and an outstanding contemporary leader whose defense of
culture heritage, while engaging globally, mirrors India's own values for
those whom in not know already. The book itself was
first published in twenty twenty one, before Melanie became Prime Minister,
(26:06):
and has since become a bestseller. It traces her journey
from a working class background to Italy's first woman PM,
with more these forward introducing it to Indian readers. The
memoir is being framed not just as a personal story,
but one that resonates across borders, and the timing is
notable in a world where identity, tradition and nationalism are
(26:30):
shaping politics more than ever. Modise embrace of Melanese memoir
underscores a shared ideological space. You were listening to Three
Things by the Indian Express. Today's show was edited and
mixed by Suriesh Pavar and produced by Shishang Hagov and
me Ichasharma. If you like the show, do subscribe to
(26:51):
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In this episode, we talk about Utrakhand, where a recruit
exam scandal has triggered fierce protests after allegations of paper leaks.
We also discussed Prime Minister and arranged remote the writing
the forward to Italian Prime Minister Georgia Melane's autobiography. But
first we talk about Laddak, where protests demanding statehood turned
(00:22):
violent last week, leaving four people dead. An activist son
Nom Vuncture detained. Hi, I'm Acha Sharma and you're listening
to three Things the Indian Express New show. It was
last Wedness Day that protests in Lay demanding statehood and
(00:45):
six scheduled protections for Ladakh turned violent, leaving four people
dead and over fifty injured. Following the violence, during which
the BJP office in Lay was also set on fire,
the police launched a crackdown and detained over fifty people
and later climate activist Sonam wang Chuk, the most prominent
(01:05):
phase of the protests was detained under the stringent National
Security Act. To understand what lies at the heart of
these protests and what happened on the ground, my colleague
Shashanghargav speaks to the inexpresses Di Di Mantewari, who has
been reporting on this for the papers.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Protests we know have been going on since Jenk was
bifurcated in twenty nineteen, and although earlier people in Ladakh
wanted it to be a union territory, after it became one,
they realized that they're actually worse off because now without
an assembly, no one was actually listening to their demands, right.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Right, So yes, you know, there has been an agitation
for UT since the eighties in Ladak, and you know,
it has finally materialized for them. And initially they were
all very very happy about it. In fact, Sona wang Chuk,
who is now arrested under NSA, was all praise for
the Modi government for having given the UT status to Ladakh.
(02:06):
But they soon realized that, you know, the reason that
they were demanding a UT status was because at that
time they found that Shinegar was far from them, you know,
that Schneggar was not listening. Once they became uty, they
realized that they LEAs farther and that they were now
being listened to even lesser. So as it happens, you know,
with the bureaucratic setup which is not directly accountable to
(02:27):
the public, but to the past that we at the top.
You know, sometimes it can happen that it can get
disconnected from the concerns or immediate concerns of the public
and be more focused on the larger developmental agenda that
the government imagines for a region, and that can sort
of create a kind of a disconnect between the people
and the administration. That appears to be something that the
(02:49):
people here are talking about. So, yes, they have been
disappointed with the formation of the UT and within a
year of the formation of the UT, this agitation, you know,
are taking shape. They say that they had imagined that,
you know, when a UTY would be formed, there would
also be a legislature, but there was no legislature here, and.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Is that the main reason they want statehood to have
political representation, to have more control over the decision making
of the region.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
The issues here are more complex than that, you know,
civil society organizations here. They say that this is a
penta frustration of the youth who have not had enough
jobs since the UTY was formed, and that has been
building up as a frustration among the youth. And this
was a spontaneous reaction. Obviously, the administration has been indicating
a conspiracy, involvement of the Congress, involvement of even foreign hand.
(03:41):
That said, there has been an agitation going on in
Ladak for almost five years at least, you know where
there has been hunger strikes, There has been a padiatra
to Delhi. And there has been a four point demand
by civil society organizations here which includes EPEX, Body Lay
and Carcial Democratic Alliance, that Ladak should be given six
schedule status. Ladakh should be given statehood. There should be
(04:05):
a Public Service Commission for recruitment, which is generally only
available to states, but they're asking for an exception for
a UT and that there should be two MPs, one
in Lay and one in Kharkil. Right now, there is
only one MP for the entire La Dark region.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Right in the demand for a sixth schedule is crucial
because this is what would allow Ladakh to have autonomous
councils to make laws regarding forest management, agriculture, administration of
villages and towns, marriages and social customs. So that's something
to keep in mind. But you were talking about how
frustrated the youth are about the lack of opportunities. Tell
(04:44):
us a bit more about that and how things have
been since Ladakh was turned into a Union territory.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
You know, we have to understand that Ladakh is a
very very highly literate state. Any family you go, you
will find youngsters who are at least class twelfth. So
you know, once you achieve a certain level of education,
you're looking for a certain kind of employment. Okay, now
that employment, you know, civil society organizations here say have
been hard to come by. This has been due to
(05:11):
a variety of reasons, because there is a natural lack
of opportunity in a region like Ladakh, which is cold desert.
Then after you know, the bifurcation of Jamun Kashmir into
two Union territories of Ladakh and Jamun Kashmir, people from
Ladak could no more apply for jobs which were there
in j and K. Many people from Ladakh could apply
for jobs which were there in j and K, and
(05:32):
you know, they would go and serve there. But now
it is separate uty, so they cannot apply there. And
there is no public service commission for Ladakh, so there
is no special service system for Ladakh which people can
apply for. So there have been youngsters who've been you know,
before the bifurcation started, they were preparing for J and
K Civil services exams, and then there was a bifurcation.
(05:53):
Then they kept waiting for something of that sort to
happen in Ladakh that did not happen. Then they passed
their age of applying for certain jobs. So it has
been six years. So that sort of has been building
up as a frustration among the youth. But beyond that,
also creation of jobs has been slow in Ladak. Civil
society organizations alleged that you know, for the longest time,
(06:13):
Ladak could not even have a recruitment policy in place.
So all of this, tumulatively, these civil society organizations alleged,
has led to anger among the youth and dissatisfaction with
the BJP administration here.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
And you know, this was perhaps the first time that
these protests turned violent, especially in such a big way.
Tell us, what do we know about what happened on
the ground.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
See, this is a matter of investigation, so we don't
exactly know, you know, how things unfolded, what happened, whether
there was a conspiracy or whether this was a spontaneous
overflow of you know, frustration or emotions among the youth.
But what we know about the situation is that the
lay Epex Body and Sonombangtu we had declared a thirty
(06:56):
five day fast and it was sort of the fifteenth
day of the fast when this violence happened. Before that,
on the fourteenth day, what had happened that two elderly
people who were sitting on a fast with Sonomantuk, and
this was a very small group, you know, there weren't
too many people. This was a very small group of
people who were sitting on a fast. So they fell
sick and were you know, taken to the hospital. You know,
(07:16):
the videos of them being taken to the hospital apparently
went viral in lay and this sort of created resentment
and anger among the young people. At the same time,
Laypex Bodies youth wing had called for youth to join
the protests on the fifteenth day of the fast, so
which they say that you know, the youth who had
(07:38):
until then been not very enthusiastic about joining the protests,
suddenly joined the protest in such large numbers that they
were not expecting and where they were generally managing, you know,
five hundred six hundred people, suddenly there were some seven
five hundred people at the protest site. This was two
huge sort of a gathering that they were used to
(07:59):
and then some youth among these people, while speeches were
going on and you know about demands and everything, they
broke off and started engaging into violent activity. APEX Body
Lay says that their leaders, including their chief Stan Chemang,
tried to reason with the youth, but a stone was
thrown at him as well. People did not listen to
(08:20):
even wantchuk and you know, youth leaders or the APEXS
body and this group of some youth actually went out
of control and then they went around, you know, setting
vehicles on fire, you know, attacking the VJP office which
was also torched. Even they attacked the secretariat and LAHDC
(08:40):
office which is the local hill council office here. So
there was large scale stone pelting on security forces, on
government buildings. There was arson and eventually the police had
to resort to firing in which four people died. Now
this is a matter of investigation, whether there was an instigation,
whether some political party was involved, whether some foreign power
(09:03):
was involved. How did a protest which has been going
on for four or five years absolutely peacefully suddenly turned violent.
How did this happen? So that remains a matter of
investigation and the truth will come out sooner or later.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Right now, Sonam Wangchuk has been detained under the stringent
National Security Act. Tell us what are the allegations that
the administration has made against wang Chuk?
Speaker 3 (09:27):
Okay, So, administration has made some serious allegations against Sonomangchuk.
It is said that, you know, he made provocative speeches.
He talked about protesting Nepal, Shri Lanka and Bangladesh and
we all know what has happened there. Then in a
recent press conference, the DGP of Ladakh als that you know,
he was in touch with a Pakistani pio who was
(09:48):
sending information back to Pakistan. So all these allegations have
been made against him, and he has been, you know,
sort of branded as a person who was having some
anti national connections even before this violence actually started. If
we look at how things you know, developed, we will
understand Lea's discomfort with Sonomanchuk. Before these protests itself, Delhi
(10:09):
had sort of started a CBA inquiry against wang Chuk's
institute here, which is of alternative studies in Ladak. There
was an FCR investigation which had been opened. Then there
were it summons which were sent to Sonomankchuk which Sonomankchuk
says that he doesn't understand because la dark business I
exempted from my income tax. So sort of things are
(10:31):
building up already and now with his NSA arrest, it
has come full circle.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
And deepman, we understand that all this happened just days
before a meeting which was to take place between the
Union Home Ministry and Laddak representatives. And interestingly, wang Chuk
was kept out of this. So can you tell us
about the significance of that.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
See, wang Chuk was actually never part of the lay
Epex body. Let me give you some background on how
this entire thing started. It all started with you know,
student agitation in the beginning in December twenty Nintheen, and
then it started, you know, bringing various sections of society
together and Sonam Wangchuk at that time organized a study
(11:14):
tour of socio religious leaders from Ladak to Northeast. They
came back and came to the conclusion that you know, Ladak,
like the Northeast, would require six schedule protection and that's
when you know, they started with the demand of six
schedule and statehood so that they have public representation. And
then you know, Sonim wang Chuk started these hunger strikes
(11:35):
and protests even as socio religious leaders got together and
formed what we today know as the APEX Body LAY
and in Kargil against social religious leaders came together to
form Cargill Democratic Alliance. These two outfits came together to
demand SIK schedule and statehood with the government, and they
(11:57):
entered into negotiations with the government until now. Let's remember, Sona.
Wangchuk is not part of any of these organizations. It
was only until very very recently around May when Wangchuk
was actually made part of a subcommittee of the High
Powered Committee of EPEX Body LAY. You know what we
understand and know is that Delhi was very uncomfortable with it.
(12:18):
In fact, a meeting was supposed to take place in
June and that meeting never happened. And the reason we
understand is because Delhi did not want wang Chuk on
the negotiating table. Del was uncomfortable with him because it
thought that he was an activist and it was more
comfortable dealing and negotiating with public representatives who Delhi thought
(12:40):
would be better for negotiations and would understand Deli's position
as well. So this back and forth kept happening, and
so the meetings kept getting delayed and then recently, eventually
the High Powered Committee decided that Wangchuk would not be
part of the delegations that will negotiate with Delhi on
demands of Ladakh, and then the government agreed to having
(13:02):
a meeting and Octobu six was fixed for that meeting
to happen.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
And you know, considering that NSAY is a very stringent law,
tell us what powers does the state get under it
and what options does wang Chuk have now?
Speaker 3 (13:15):
So, as you said, you know, this is a very
stringent law. It's not a criminal charge, it's a detention order.
So you don't have to prove anything in a court
of law with very substantive evidence. You just have to
give believable cause of action that this person may be
threat to the society if he's kept outside, or may
engage in some kind of criminal activity. But it gives
(13:38):
tremendous powers to the state. You know, people can be
detained for up to one to two years under this act,
which is obviously extendable by there is an advisory board,
you know, which has to confirm these orders and they
are periodically extended until you can you know, appeal in
the High Court or the Supreme court and get it coshed.
So not only the person can be detained, he can
be taken to a different place altogether, move the cross
(14:00):
states and subjected to any condition that the government sets
on him. So it's a very stringent law and has
been used in the past on in several cases. As
we would remember a pulsing of Wristman Jab. They was
arrested last year and he was taken to Dibrugar Jail
from Punjab and he remains detained there still. So this
(14:21):
can lead to long incarcerations without any trial. Although there
is a provision where you can go and make a
representation to the government and to the High Court, but
you know there are serious limitations to that that detaining
has no right to legal representation before that advisory poort
and the government may withhold facts of the case in
public interest, so you know, you generally have to go
(14:42):
to a higher court, either the High Court or the
Supreme Court to get relief. Right now, Wang Chuk's options
obviously are as mandated within the Act, is that you know,
he can file a representation to the government or wait
for the Advisory boards review which will happen within three
weeks and make representation there then he can move the
High Court or the Supreme Court under a jurisdiction to
(15:02):
contest the legality of his detention and sort of seek
the revocation of the government order. But beyond this his
options are limited.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
And next we talk about Utra Khund, where a recruitment
exam meant to offer young graduates a pathway to stable
government jobs has instead erupted into a scandal. A few
days after thousands of hopeful candidates sat for the Utra
Hunt Subordinate Services Selection Commission test, better known as the
UK Triple sc Exam, allegations surfaced that question papers had
(15:39):
been leaked mit exam and that answers were circulated in
real time. The controversy triggered fierce protests and renewed anger
over past paper leaks and fresh questions about the credibility
of the state's recruitment process.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
Now.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
According to the fire registered around eight am on Sunday, Suman,
a professor at a college in Tehri Gerval, received a
WhatsApp message from a number belonging to a man named
Khalid Malik So.
Speaker 4 (16:09):
She knew Khalid from their time in Rishiki. She was
working as a tax inspector and he was working as
a junior engineer in a contractual position in Rishi Kijh.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
This is The Indian Express's Ashwaryeraj, who reported on the
story for the paper.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
And Khalid on the day of the exam had reached
out to Suman saying that he needed help with solving
a paper that his sister was appearing for.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
However, that wasn't the case. It was Khalid who was
actually taking the exam. A day before, he had managed
to smuggle a second phone into the exam hall and
on the day of the test, he sent three pages
of the question paper to his primary phone, which his
sister Sabia was handling, acting as a middleman. Sabia then
forwarded the papers to Suman, who promptly sent the answers back.
Speaker 4 (16:58):
So later week to know that these three pages were
shared with one of the protesters, one of the leaders
of the protest, and he circulated it online alleging that
there is a paper league. So incidentally, what we also
have to understand is the allegations become fuz or what
people are concerned about is it's not just limited to
(17:19):
this particular incident. They're alleging that there is something larger
at play here. There is a bigger rigging because a
day before the exam there was an arrest by the
Dradun Police of Hukkam Singh, who was earlier arrested for
a same paper league in twenty twenty one. So back
then he was arrested for allegedly leaking the paper before
(17:40):
the exam and giving it out to candidates, solving the
question paper and giving it out of the candidates. So
this has created more scrutiny of the committee commission and
the students are alleging that there is more to this
and it's not just limited to one particular aspirint shared
in three pages with the question paper. We also have
to understand the fact that since twelve questions are out,
(18:03):
the names of people in the list depends on you know,
fraction of marks, So twelve questions matter a lot in
these recruitment tests. So at least this is what the
protesters have been saying. So there's another question of jammers
in the exam hall because this particular school where the
exam was conducted has the media cell in charge of
(18:23):
BJP as its principle, and what he has said is
there was no jammer in that particular hall, there were
eighteen halls and fifteen jammers, so they had to divide
one jammer between two classes, which might have been the
reason why he could send the pictures across to another person.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
Now, for the protesters, like Keshwara mentioned, this was not
about one candidate or one exam hall. It was about
a commission that has repeatedly failed to safeguard its own processes.
They pointed out that in twenty twenty one and again
in twenty twenty two, similar controversies took place in the
recruitment tests, each time triggering waves of youth protests. And
(19:04):
here Hukkam Singh Rabat becomes a key player.
Speaker 4 (19:08):
So Hakkam Rabat was a part of BJP. He was
earlier a Punchaiyat member in Uttarakashi and then he joined
the BJP. But after his name suffers in the twenty
twenty one controversy, he was expelled from the party. He
even was in jail for more than a year and
then he was let go off he was out on bail.
So when these protests happened in twenty twenty three, this
(19:29):
had put the government in a tight spot and they
had come up with an act against cheating, So they
had a lot of sections which would make anyone who
facilitates cheating or you know, tampering with the OMR, they
would get a prison term of at least even life
imprisonment and more than ten crores in fine. So there
were stringent terms. And what the protesters are saying that
(19:52):
if there is something as stringent as this, how could
Hukkam Singh do it again? And despite being in jail,
despite the being imprisoned already, he has come back, he
has come out and he is demanding to peace fifteen
lack per person to help them pass. So this has
created a lot of curiosity and a lot of controversy
surrounding the act itself and how stringent it really is.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
Now over the past few days, this controversy even took
a communal turn when Chief Minister push Ker Singhami described
the case as knuckle jihad or cheating jihad, pointing to
the religion of the accused.
Speaker 4 (20:30):
So this has created more controversy, or this has created
more chatter among protesters because they have rejected this narrative,
saying that it's easier to communalize this and you can
just make it about these two people, because we have
had instances where a larger force was at play, a
larger nexus was seen. So they're saying that Hakkamsingh Punkash God,
(20:51):
the second accused who was arrested a day before the exam,
all these people do not belong to the minority community,
and you're just making it easier to get out of
the whole problem. And there must be more than this.
There must be a probe into the functioning of the
Commission and not just one recruitment test. So they have
demanded a probe, a CBI probe along with a re exam,
(21:13):
so cancelation of the twenty first September examine, a re examination.
And the opposition has rejected this narrative that this cannot
be called knakl jihad, and they have said that this
is such an easy route to pursue because someone is
alleging a larger problem or problem with the Commission and
you're just making it about a particular minority or you're
(21:35):
just limiting it to particular individuals. So they have also
alleged that there was this problem, there was inability from
the the part of the prosecution who could not establish
Hakkamsingh as accused as the criminal who was behind the
former paper leaks. So they have gone after the Act.
The Congress has alleged that there are loopholes, there are
(21:55):
problems with the Act as well as the party. They
have blamed the party for being in cahoots with people
like Hakkamsingh. Meanwhile, what further added to the confusion was
the government last week abruptly changing the judge supervising the
special investigation Team. So another thing that has suffers over
the last few days is how the SIET which was
(22:18):
supposed to probe into this particular incident, was earlier under
the supervision of BS Verma, who was a retired High
Court justice, and on Friday the government went back on
its worth and they said that they will assign a
new judge, yu See Dihani. So this has also created
some chatter among the protesters regarding, you know, the change
in the supervisor, the person who is overseeing the committee.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
Yesterday, however, the agitation reached a turning point when Chief
Minister Hamy visited the site, appealed directly to the protesters
and promised to recommend a CBI probe. He also assured
them that cases filed against demonstrators would be withdrawn. With that,
the students for now have agreed to suspend their protest.
Speaker 4 (23:03):
On Monday evening, Chief Minster push Kasinkami met with the
students who have been protesting at the Burier Ground in
their adon and promised that a CBI probe will be
conducted into the alleged paper league and the protest had
entered the eighth day when the Chief Minister met with
the students and told them that he would recommend the probe,
and he has also promised the students that all the
(23:25):
fires and complaints that have been registered against protesting students
will be quashed will be withdrawn immediately. The protesters have
told us that they will reconvene on October tenth to
see if the demands have been met, and unmet, they
would go ahead with the protests. So far, every protester
across the state have agreed to call the strike off,
(23:48):
and the Congress has said that they would still continue
to go ahead with their earlier announced march to the
CM's residence on October third. They have said that the
previous governments under diff chief ministers, especially in twenty seventeen
went through interessing Rabat was a Chief minister. They had
promised a probe into the enaged seventy four scam, but
(24:09):
despite it being eight years after the announcement, nothing had
come through. So they have re iterated that they would
continue with their march to the Sam's residence.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
And finally we turned to the world of diplomacy and
the ties between India and Italy. It was back in
twenty twenty three that Italian Prime Minister Georgia Melanie visited India.
This was the first high level visit from Italy in
five years, after a period when both countries were working
to repair strained relations. These tensions dated back to the
(24:44):
twenty twelve case of two Italian marines accused of killing
Indian fishermen and later took corruption allegations involving a helicopter
deal between India and Augusta Westland, a subsidiary of the
Italian defense major Finnmaca. By the time Melanie arrived, however,
much of that repair work was complete and the visit
(25:05):
elevated the relationship to a strategic partnership. Now. Since then,
both leaders have gone out of their way to highlight
their personal warmth, something that the Internet quickly latched onto,
especially when the hashtag Melody, a portmanteau of their names,
trended after a friendly selfie at COP twenty eight. In fact,
(25:26):
even earlier this year, a short clip from the G
seven in Canada went viral where Melanie was hurt telling
Mody you are the best and I'm trying to be
as you now. As an extension of this bonnamy, we've
learned that Prime Minister Mody has written the foreword to
Melanie's autobiography, I'm Georgia, My Root's my Principle. In it,
(25:46):
he calls the book Melanie's Monkey Path, praising her as
a patriot and an outstanding contemporary leader whose defense of
culture heritage, while engaging globally, mirrors India's own values for
those whom in not know already. The book itself was
first published in twenty twenty one, before Melanie became Prime Minister,
(26:06):
and has since become a bestseller. It traces her journey
from a working class background to Italy's first woman PM,
with more these forward introducing it to Indian readers. The
memoir is being framed not just as a personal story,
but one that resonates across borders, and the timing is
notable in a world where identity, tradition and nationalism are
(26:30):
shaping politics more than ever. Modise embrace of Melanese memoir
underscores a shared ideological space. You were listening to Three
Things by the Indian Express. Today's show was edited and
mixed by Suriesh Pavar and produced by Shishang Hagov and
me Ichasharma. If you like the show, do subscribe to
(26:51):
us wherever you get your podcast. You can also recommend
it to someone you think may like it, with a
friend or in your family. This is the best way
for people to get to know about us. You can
also tweet us at Express podcast or write to us
at podcast at Indian Express dot com.
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