Sonam Wangchuk.  (Photo |  Sonam Wangchuk Twitter)
Sonam Wangchuk. (Photo | Sonam Wangchuk Twitter)

Ladakhis tell centre all is not well, seek separate state

These are managed by autonomous district councils which enjoy some amount of autonomy in administration, legislative and judicial areas.

Sonam Wangchuk’s call for the inclusion of Ladakh in the Sixth Schedule under Article 244 with his just-concluded five-day-hunger strike, has its merits but not without worry for the Central leadership. Greater autonomy to local administration on its land, environment and natural resources are at the crux of the Sixth Schedule, which applies to the northeastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, partly Mizoram and Tripura, in areas which have a high concentration of Adivasis and indigenous populations.

These are managed by autonomous district councils which enjoy some amount of autonomy in administration, legislative and judicial areas. Bringing a state under the Sixth Schedule would mean vesting power with the local administration in critical areas, control over the alienation of land being the topmost. Ladakh has two hill councils—Buddhist-dominated Leh and Muslim-dominated Kargil—with 30 members each. They are only ceremonial positions.

Wangchuk, who had tweeted in support of the prime minister in August 2019, after the BJP government abrogated Article 370, stripping Jammu and Kashmir of its statehood and carving out Ladakh as a separate union territory, is now seeking special status and statehood for Ladakh. The reason behind this is the growing disillusionment of Ladakhis—a thinly populated race, mostly tribals. The region celebrated its independence from J&K more than three years ago, only to see it being ruled by a more ‘alien’ form of administration in the form of an L-G and bureaucrats with controls in distant Delhi. Loss of employment and shrinking quota in government jobs are real worries for the ethnic hill tribes, which have no other means of livelihood.

The sitting MP from Ladakh is from the BJP. The Leh Apex Body and Kargil Democratic Alliance have been demanding statehood for Ladakh, safeguards under the Sixth Schedule, increased political representation, job reservation, and the filling of government vacancies.

A desert region with no rainfall, the threat of over 5,000 glaciers in the Himalayas melting is becoming a reality with global warming and increased tourism. Shrinking winters and expanding summers have adversely impacted snowfall. A fragile area from the point of view of national security and ecology, Ladakh needs to be settled. To conclude that ‘all is well’ would be fallacious.

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