Leaders of the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) have left for Delhi where they will hold talks with officials of the Union ministry of home affairs regarding their demands, including grant of statehood and sixth schedule of the Constitution besides release of the people arrested after the September 24 violence in Leh. They also want compensation to the kin of those killed and injured.
After the violence that left four civilians dead, this will be the first formal talks between the Ladakh groups and the Union home ministry. On October 6, the Ladakh leaders had refused to hold talks with the central government. “The leaders who will be holding talks with MHA officials have already reached Delhi. Tomorrow, they will be holding deliberations on the various issues,” said a senior Leh Apex Body leader.
The Ladakh bodies agreed for talks after the government ordered a judicial probe by a former Supreme Court judge into the Leh violence.
Among the eight-member sub-committee, which will hold talks, are LAB chairman Thupstan Chhewang, Chering Dorjay Lakrook and Ashraf Barch along with lawyer Haji Mustafa from Leh. The KDA members on the panel include Asgar Ali Karbalai, Sajjad Kargili, Qamar Ali Akhoon along with Kargil MP Haji Hanifa.
Apart from four deaths, nearly 100 others, including police and paramilitary personnel, were injured on September 24 when the protesters went on a rampage, vandalising buildings and setting a BJP office and a police vehicle on fire. The clashes had erupted over the demands of statehood and sixth schedule on the 15th day of the hunger strike led by climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who has been booked under NSA and incarcerated in Jodhpur jail. The Centre has blamed Wangchuk for instigating the violence.
{{/usCountry}}Apart from four deaths, nearly 100 others, including police and paramilitary personnel, were injured on September 24 when the protesters went on a rampage, vandalising buildings and setting a BJP office and a police vehicle on fire. The clashes had erupted over the demands of statehood and sixth schedule on the 15th day of the hunger strike led by climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who has been booked under NSA and incarcerated in Jodhpur jail. The Centre has blamed Wangchuk for instigating the violence.
{{/usCountry}}The Union Territory of Ladakh was created on August 5, 2019 after the Centre effectively abrogated Article 370, which used to bestow special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and split the erstwhile state into two UTs – J&K with a legislative assembly and Ladakh without one. In February 2024, thousands protested in Delhi, Leh and other parts of Ladakh demanding statehood and safeguards under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.