SRINAGAR: More than two months after the Leh Apex Body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance submitted a detailed memorandum outlining their demands, the Union Home Ministry has invited Leh and Kargil leaders for talks in Delhi on February 4 to discuss demands for Sixth Schedule status, statehood and other key issues related to Ladakh.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has convened a meeting of the High Powered Committee on Ladakh, which will be chaired by Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai. The meeting is scheduled to be held at 4 pm at Kartavya Bhawan-3 in the national capital.
The High Powered Committee includes senior officials of the Home Ministry, the Lieutenant Governor of the Ladakh Union Territory, representatives of the Ladakh administration, leaders of the Leh Apex Body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance, the Ladakh Member of Parliament, and the Chief Executive Councillors of the Leh and Kargil Hill Councils.
Leh Apex Body co-chairman Chering Dorjay Lakruk confirmed that the Ministry has invited them for discussions on February 4.
“We would press for the early grant of 6th Schedule status and statehood (with an Assembly) to strategically important Ladakh UT. We will stress to the Union MoS and MHA that granting 6th Schedule and statehood to Ladakh is a must to protect the fragile environment of the cold desert,” he said.
Both the Leh Apex Body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance, an amalgam of political, social, trade and religious groups from Leh and Kargil districts, are also demanding the establishment of a separate Public Service Commission for Ladakh, reservation for locals in gazetted and non-gazetted jobs, and two Lok Sabha seats, one each for Buddhist-majority Leh and Muslim-majority Kargil.
Dorjay said the delegation would approach the talks in a positive spirit and hoped for meaningful outcomes for the people of Ladakh.
After a sub-committee meeting held in New Delhi on October 22, the Home Ministry had asked the two bodies to submit a detailed document listing their demands. The joint 29-page memorandum was unanimously prepared by the Leh Apex Body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance and submitted to the Ministry on November 14.
The Leh Apex Body co-chairman said the delegation would also raise the issue of the release of those detained after the September 24 violence in Leh, including noted climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who has been booked under the National Security Act and is currently lodged in a jail in Jodhpur, Rajasthan.
“We will also demand compensation for the four persons killed and around 80 others injured in the September 24 violence during protests for statehood and Sixth Schedule status in Leh,” Dorjay said.
The September 24 incident was described as one of the worst episodes of violence in otherwise peaceful Ladakh.