Ladakh leaders push for statehood, to boycott MHA committee meet

Samaan Lateef

Srinagar, January 9

Ladakh representative bodies have decided not to meet the committee of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), constituted to end resentment in the region, until statehood and special status under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution are part of the agenda of the meeting.

Leaders of the Apex Body of Ladakh (ABL) and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) said they were better off in the erstwhile state of J&K. “New Delhi has disempowered us. In the hollow Union Territory without a legislature, there is no accountability. Bureaucrats are ruling us,” said Sajjad Hussain Kargili, a senior leader of the KDA.

On January 2, the Home Ministry constituted a high-powered committee headed by Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai to discuss with local leaders “measures to protect the region’s unique culture and language”. There has been resentment among Ladakh people seeking constitutional safeguards for jobs and land since the Centre abrogated Article 370.

The ABL and the KDA have decided to hold a protest in Jammu on January 15, which will be followed by a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi next month, Kargili said, adding, “We have also demanded formation of Public Service Commission and creation of two separate parliamentary constituencies for Leh and Kargil.”