Ladakh To Continue Statehood Demand

The people of Ladakh will continue to press for their demand for a statehood. Ladakh, with a population of three lakh persons, was part of the former Jammu and Kashmir state but was bifurcated as a separate UT from Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019, by the BJP government while Jammu and Kashmir was itself reduced to a Union Territory. Writes ETV Bharat's Mir Farhat

Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir): BJP leaders from Ladakh led by former party MP JT Namgyal met the Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday and demanded constitutional safeguards for land, jobs, and trade in Ladakh union territory.

"What and when the government of India gives it is their discretion, but we will keep demanding as per our right,' Namgyal told ETV Bharat.

The people of the union territory of Ladakh are again pitching for a sixth schedule and statehood for the cold desert. The previous Narendra Modi-led government held several rounds of talks with political and social representatives of Ladakh to negotiate for a common settlement but Ladakh people are persisting with their demands.

Except for the BJP, the political parties and socio-religious bodies in Ladakh have been demanding tribal status under the sixth schedule, statehood, assembly and one more MP seat and a separate public service commission (PSC) for recruitment.

The political parties (except BJP) and socio-religious bodies in Leh and Kargil formed the LAB and KDA to fight jointly for these demands. Ladakh, with a population of three lakh persons, was part of the former Jammu and Kashmir state but was bifurcated as a separate UT from Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019, by the BJP government while Jammu and Kashmir was itself reduced to a Union Territory.

Former minister and president Ladakh Chering Dorjey (LBA) said that the demands of the people of Ladakh are still pending for which their struggle will continue.

"Until we are given constitutional safeguards, statehood, assembly and one more MP seat, PSC our struggle will continue. Anything less than these demands is simply unacceptable to the people of Ladakh," Dorjey told ETV Bharat.

Dorjey said that the LBA and KDA gave Prime Minister Narendra Modi a joint memorandum of demands during his visit to the Kargil War Memorial on Kargil Vijay Diwas.

Political activist Sajad Kargili said that the KDA and LAB are meeting on August 3 in Leh to discuss the future strategy of the struggle.

"Sixth schedule, statehood are our prime demands. If the government of India gives us safeguards through Autonomous Hill Development Councils, we will accept that but we will continue our struggle for the demands of sixth schedule and statehood," Kargili told ETV Bharat.

He said that if the Centre does not accept the demands, the people of Kargil will seek a merger with Jammu and Kashmir.

The LBA and KDA held several protests and shutdowns since 2020 for their demands, while environmental activist Sonam Wangchuk also held a hunger strike in March this year. Wangchuk has now announced a hunger strike again which will begin from August 15.

The LAB and KDA have held meetings with the Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai in the previous Modi-led government but the talks ended in a deadlock when the Centre refused to talk on statehood and sixth schedule.