AT LEAST four people were killed and dozens injured in Ladakh today as protests over statehood escalated into violent clashes with police in the high-altitude town of Leh.

Hundreds took to the streets demanding federal statehood and constitutional guarantees for autonomy over land and agriculture in the Indian controlled region.

Police said some demonstrators threw stones and set fire to a paramilitary vehicle and the local office of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

Officers responded with batons and tear gas, injuring dozens, with residents reporting that some of the wounded were in critical condition.

The unrest follows New Delhi’s 2019 decision to strip Indian-controlled Kashmir of its statehood and semi-autonomy, splitting Ladakh into a separate federally governed territory.

While dissent in Kashmir has been stifled through restrictions and new laws, Ladakh’s calls for political rights have intensified.

Today’s protests were sparked by a local group’s call for a strike after two of over a dozen residents on a hunger strike for statehood demands collapsed.

Authorities banned assembly of more than five people in Leh district following the clashes.

The region’s representatives have held several rounds of talks with Indian officials without any breakthrough.

A fresh round of talks is scheduled between New Delhi and Ladakh representatives on October 6.

Ladakh has faced territorial disputes and suffered the effects of climate change.

Shifting weather patterns have brought floods, landslides and droughts to sparsely populated villages, while thousands of glaciers are retreating at alarming rates, threatening the water supply for millions.

Pollution linked to militarisation and the ongoing border standoff with China since 2020 has worsened the situation.