Ladakhis begin foot march to Delhi

Jammu, September 1

To urge the Centre to resume the stalled dialogue with the leadership of Ladakh on their four-point agenda, at least 100 volunteers of Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), led by educationist and innovator Sonam Wangchuk, started ‘Delhi Chalo’ foot march on Sunday from Leh.

LAB and KDA are jointly spearheading an agitation over the past four years in support of their demands, including statehood, inclusion of Ladakh in Sixth Schedule, separate Public Service Commission and separate Lok Sabha seats for Leh and Kargil districts.

The talks between Ladakh representatives and the Centre ended in March without any concrete outcome.

Amid chants of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai and “We want sixth schedule”, LAB chairman Thupstan Chhewang flagged off the march from NDS Memorial park with Wangchuk expressing hope that the government will greet them with a good news on reaching Delhi on Gandhi Jayanti on October 2.

“It is a matter of satisfaction that people from all sections of the society have joined this march in support of our demands…Sixth schedule of the Constitution and UT with legislature is our democratic right as we want development and management of the region in accordance with our wishes and aspirations,” said Wangchuk, who held a 21-day hunger strike in support of these demands in March.

He said this is a people’s movement and the government should fulfill the demands of the Ladakhis without a second thought. “We are sharing borders with Pakistan and China who may be boasting of their technology but I want to tell my country that Indians should be proud of the people of Ladakh who are ready to sacrifice their lives for the nation,” he said.

Expressing confidence that more people will join the march en route to Delhi via Himachal Pradesh, he said the people are enthusiastic, which is evident that even a 90-year-old Ladakh citizen, who lives in Switzerland, is ready to join them in Delhi. “This is another phase of our struggle and the KDA is not joining this march at the initial stage but will definitely give a positive response as the march moves to Delhi,” Chhewang said.

Tsering Dorjey, an elderly participant, said his health would not allow him to cover the full 1,000-km distance by foot. “But I will try to be part of the march as long as I can. By this march, we want to convey a message that we are very serious with regard to our four demands,” he said.