To calm down tempers in Ladakh after the killing of four people in police firing during violent protests over the demand for Statehood and the Sixth Schedule, a preparatory meeting of the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has been scheduled for September 27 and 28 in New Delhi.
This was decided in a meeting between officials from the MHA and leaders of the LAB in Leh.
LAB leaders Thupstan Chhewang and Chering Dorjay said the preparatory meeting will be attended by three representatives each from the LAB and KDA, besides the Ladakh MP.
The meeting will lay the groundwork for talks with the MHA’s High-Powered Committee (HPC), led by Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai, and members of the LAB and KDA on October 6.
The LAB and KDA demands include Statehood, the Sixth Schedule, two Parliamentary seats — one each for Kargil and Leh — a separate Public Service Commission, and protection of the jobs, land, and culture of Ladakh.
The MHA has already accepted most of the demands of Ladakh leaders, including a favourable domicile and reservation law for jobs for locals; however, the demands for Statehood and the Sixth Schedule have proved intractable.
The Centre has expressed willingness to extend certain provisions of the Sixth Schedule to Ladakh that apply to the region, but has ruled out bringing Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule and rejected the demand for Statehood.
The Ladakh leaders have signalled their readiness to drop the demand for Statehood and the Sixth Schedule if the Centre agreed to give the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils in Leh and Kargil the status of an Assembly.
Ladakh was separated from Jammu and Kashmir and conferred Union Territory status after the BJP made the Article 370 move, splitting Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
Initially, the people of Buddhist-majority Leh celebrated the new status for the region, while those in Kargil, where Muslims constitute an overwhelming majority, opposed it.
However, it later dawned on the people in Leh that the protections Ladakh had enjoyed for land, jobs, and identity no longer existed after its separation from Jammu and Kashmir, leading to the formation of the LAB to demand constitutional safeguards for Ladakh. The LAB then joined forces with the KDA to unite in fighting for the rights of Ladakh.
