Centre should resume talks with protesting groups: Ladakh MP

The Centre should resume talks with the agitating groups from Ladakh over their demands including safeguards under the Sixth Schedule, Ladakh MP Mohmad Haneefa said as a march led by climate activist Sonam Wangchuk is set to reach the national capital on Monday.

The march called by the Leh Apex Body (LAB), led by Wangchuk, started from Leh on September 1 and is scheduled to reach Delhi’s Singhu border on Monday evening. Members from the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), will also join the group from Leh. On October 2, Gandhi Jayanti, the groups have announced, they will march to Delhi’s Rajghat, while a public gathering is planned at Jantar Mantar on October 3.

The two groups have jointly spearheaded an agitation over the past four years in support of statehood for Ladakh, extension of the Constitution’s Sixth Schedule, early recruitment process along with a public service commission for Ladakh and separate Lok Sabha seats for Leh and Kargil districts.

The talks between Ladakh representatives and the Central government ended in March without any concrete outcome. “Since the last three years, KDA and LAB have been raising the four-point demands. We have been holding dialogue with the government, but there has been no outcome,” Haneefa said on phone.

“We are peace-loving people. We understand Ladakh is a strategically important area. We have not done anything to affect national security,” he asserted.

“A high-powered committee was formed, meetings were also held, but the talks got stalled. After elections, we were hoping that the government would initiate talks again, but that did not happen,” he said.

Haneefa said the foot march led by Wangchuk is being undertaken to raise their four-point agenda. “I met the home secretary, I am trying to get an appointment with the home minister. I urge the Union government to resume talks that got stalled before the elections,” he said.

Asked about the recent announcement on the formation of new districts in Ladakh, Haneefa, while welcoming it, said it would not make a difference. “It’s a separate issue. Even if you announce ten districts, if we are in this setup, Ladakh will remain but Ladakhis will be finished. Unless we get safeguards as the four points agenda demands, our identity and culture will be destroyed,” he said.

The Sixth Schedule contains provisions related to the administration of tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram through autonomous district councils (ADCs).