NEW DELHI: A day after violent clashes in Ladakh, Opposition parties urged the Centre on Thursday to engage with the people of Ladakh to address their concerns, warning that if a void is left in the border state, someone else would try to fill it.
National Conference president Farooq Abdullah warned that Ladakh is sensitive and held the Centre responsible for the current situation.
“Hold talks, don’t talk about holding talks. The leaders in Delhi are responsible for the current situation. They kept them busy with talks that lacked substance. The youth are feeling let down. The government should move faster and resolve the issue,” he said.
Abdullah cautioned that neglect could leave the region vulnerable to outside influence. “I want to tell the government that Ladakh is a border state. China is lurking; they have occupied land. It is time to resolve it quickly. The government should hold talks and resolve it,” Abdullah told reporters here.
Asked about the government blaming climate activist Sonam Wangchuk for the violence, the former CM said the peace activist was not responsible for it.
“Wangchuk has never left the Gandhian way. The youth have sidelined him today. He is not responsible for it. When the BJP lost elections, they imposed the public safety law and put people in jail. Now they are using CBI. The more they use force to suppress, the bigger the danger. I want to tell the government of India not to use force and instead hold dialogue,” he added.
Shifting the focus, Congress also criticised the government, stating that the crisis is of the BJP government’s own creation and asserting that Ladakh’s demand for inclusion under the Sixth Schedule, for dignity, and for protection of its identity is both legitimate and just.
Congress’s media and publicity department head, Pawan Khera said the loss of precious lives in Ladakh is tragic. “It’s a grim reminder of the government’s failed promises. In 2019, from the floor of Parliament, the nation was assured that the humiliation being inflicted on the people of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir then would usher in peace. Six years later, the trouble has only deepened,” Khera said on X.
“Far from restoring normalcy in the valley, the Centre’s shortsightedness has pushed Jammu and Ladakh also into an incinerator of violence. This crisis is the BJP government’s own creation - one it now seeks to unfairly ignore,” he said.
Ladakh’s demand for inclusion under the Sixth Schedule, for dignity, and for the protection of its identity is both legitimate and just, Khera asserted. He insisted Ladakh deserves engagement, empathy, and decisive leadership from the government, not neglect.
Echoing opposition concerns, AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal called the situation in Ladakh ‘extremely alarming’ and accused the BJP of denying people’s democratic rights by withholding an elected government.
In a post on X, Kejriwal said, “What is happening in Ladakh today is extremely alarming. Every true patriot should stand with the people of Ladakh.”