Ladakh Political Parties Lay Four-Point Conditions For Meeting With MHA, Include Statehood For Ladakh

Days after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) constituted a high-powered committee headed by Minister of State Nityanand Rai to “ensure the protection of land and employment” for the people of Ladakh, political parties of Ladakh today laid four conditions for having the meeting. Kargil Democratic Alliance and Apex Body of Leh, an amalgam of political parties of Kargil and Leh respectively, said they will participate only in the meeting that is empowered to discuss statehood for Ladakh, a constitutional safeguard under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India to protect the interest of the tribal people of Ladakh, formation of Public Service Commission and Reservation of jobs for the youth of Ladakh and creation of two separate parliamentary constituencies for Leh and Kargil.

After an emergency meeting of Leh Apex Body and Kargil Democratic Alliance at Jammu on Saturday the parties issued a statement saying they have decided not to accept the formation of the High-Powered Committee and attend any meeting conducted under the aegis of the Committee.

They said the MHA Committee has not been mandated to discuss issues raised by the Apex Body of Leh and the KDA.

However, the statement said, they have resolved that both bodies will agree to participate in any meeting headed by a committee which is empowered to discuss the four issues in question, statehood for UT Ladakh, constitutional Safeguard under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India in order to protect the interest of the Tribal People of Ladakh, formation of Public Service Commission and Reservation of jobs for the youth of Ladakh, creation of two separate parliamentary constituencies for Leh and Kargil.

“The meeting further strongly objected to the composition of members of the High-Powered Committee representing Leh APEX Body and KDA as the government has arbitrarily excluded and included members without consultation with the APEX Body and the KDA. It was further resolved that the government should include all the names as proposed by Leh APEX and KDA body in the year 2021 as per Home Ministry’s instruction,” the statement reads.

“It was further resolved in the meeting that the agitation for the resolution of the four issues shall continue till our genuine demands are fulfilled,” the statement added.

 Last week, according to the MHA order, the MHA committee will “discuss measures to protect the region’s unique culture and language taking into consideration its geographical location and its strategic importance.”

For the past three years after the abrogation of Article 370, the Leh Apex Body and Kargil Democratic Alliance, an amalgam of different political groupings of the region have been seeking constitutional safeguards on the lines of the 6th schedule to safeguard the demography, environment, and unique culture of Ladakh.

The constitution of a high-powered committee comprising Lt Governor of Ladakh UT Radha Krishna, MP Ladakh, Jamyang Tsering Namgyal; Chairman of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council Leh, Chairman of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council Kargil, Joint Secretary MHA, Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh Affairs, Director, Deputy Secretary MHA,  Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh and one nominated member from MHA. The committee will also have members from Apex Body Leh and Kargil Democratic Alliance.