NEW DELHI, Feb 19: Ladakh civil society groups on Monday announced calling off their proposed indefinite hunger strike scheduled to begin on Tuesday after a meeting with the officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs in New Delhi.
The MHA has agreed to discuss their demands, which include Statehood for Ladakh, granting the region tribal status through inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, and constitution of an exclusive Public Service Commission for Ladakh, in a meeting on February 24.
Sajjad Kargili, a member of the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) and High-Powered Committee (HPC) of the MHA took to social media platform X and made the announcement immediately after the meeting with MHA officials. He also posted a video of the members going for the HPC meeting in MHA office.
Former Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Ladakh, Thupstan Chhewang (76), and education reformer and Magsaysay Award winner Sonam Wangchuk, both members of the HPC had announced an indefinite hunger strike from Tuesday to demand constitutional safeguards for the Union Territory.
On Monday, Leh Apex Body (LAB) and KDA issued a statement that a joint sub-committee will be constituted for carrying forward the process. The sub-committee comprises Thupstan Chhewang, Chering Dorjay Lakrook and Nawang Rigzin Jora, representing the LAB, and Qamar Ali Akhoon, Asgar Ali Karbalai and Sajjad Kargili from the KDA. The statement said that the names of the members have been conveyed to Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla.
“All members of the sub-committee are in Delhi and we look forward to fruitful discussions at the next meeting. In view of this significant development, we have decided to drop for the time being our plan to go on hunger strike from tomorrow [February 20],” Sajjad Kargil said on his X handle.
The Centre agreed on Monday to discuss threadbare the demands for Ladakh’s statehood, the inclusion of the Union Territory in the 6th Schedule of the Constitution and the setting up of an exclusive public service commission for the high-altitude region.
The agreement was arrived at a meeting held here between the High Powered Committee (HPC) for Ladakh headed by Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai and a 14-member delegation of the LAB and KDA, representing various organisations of the Union Territory.
“The meeting decided to discuss threadbare our main demands: statehood for Ladakh, inclusion of Ladakh in the 6th Schedule of the Constitution and the constitution of the exclusive public service commission for Ladakh on February 24,” according to a joint press release issued by the ABL and KDA.
The other demands of the delegation include two Lok Sabha seats (one for Kargil and one for Leh) and job opportunities for the residents of the Union Territory, which are a part of main demands of the civil society groups of Ladakh.
At present, Ladakh has only one Lok Sabha constituency.
Ladakh, which no longer has any Assembly constituency, was earlier part of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
The provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution, which gave a special status to Jammu and Kashmir, were abrogated on August 5, 2019 and the erstwhile state was bifurcated into the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
According to the provisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, Jammu and Kashmir has been made a Union Territory with a Legislative Assembly and Ladakh a Union Territory without an Assembly.
There were four representatives from Ladakh in the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.
The Centre had assured the delegation from Ladakh in December last year that it was committed to fast-tracking the development of the Union Territory and meeting the aspirations of the people.
The assurance was given at a meeting held with the HPC for Ladakh.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had formed the HPC for Ladakh under Rai’s chairmanship with a mandate to discuss the measures needed to be taken to protect the region’s unique culture and language, taking into consideration its geographical location and strategic importance.
The HPC has also been formed for the protection of land and employment, measures for inclusive development and employment generation in the region, measures related to the empowerment of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (LAHDCs) of Leh and Kargil and the constitutional safeguards that could be provided to ensure the measures and protection as already mentioned.
Several organisations of Ladakh were demanding a separate Union Territory for the region for decades and the demand was fulfilled on August 5, 2019.
The KDA and the LAB, however, in the recent past protested at different locations, including New Delhi, Jammu and Ladakh, highlighting their key demands.
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