Trouble brews in Ladakh

Trouble is brewing in the Jammu and Kashmir Congress, with its Ladakh leaders raising the banner of revolt against the state leadership for being biased towards the region in disbursal of party funds.

Trouble is brewing in the Jammu and Kashmir Congress, with its Ladakh leaders raising the banner of revolt against the state leadership for being biased towards the region in disbursal of party funds.

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A delegation of Congress leaders from Ladakh, led by former union minister P Namgyal and ex-legislator Tsering Samphel, had recently called on the central leadership — including party treasurer Motilal Vora — to air their grievances.

Alleging discrimination by the party’s J&K leadership, the leaders demanded separation of the Ladakh district Congress committee from the state unit.

They claimed that Kashmir and Jammu regions were getting a major chunk of party funds while Ladakh was being "completely ignored".

The Congress leadership, while rejecting their demand for dividing the state unit, has assured them that the issue would be resolved.

The party is wary that the request to trifurcate the state unit might eventually lead to the renewal of an earlier demand for granting UT status to the Ladakh region because of its religious and cultural differences with other parts of J&K.

In 2002, several political parties united to form a party — the Ladakh Union Territory Front — to fight for union territory status for the region.