NEW DELHI, Apr 30: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged on Thursday that Ladakhi people’s voices have been suppressed, democratic rights crushed, and their land and fragile environment are being handed over to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “billionaire friends”.
Gandhi posted a video on X of his recent interaction with youngsters from Ladakh. The video was posted amid Home Minister Amit Shah’s Ladakh visit.
The leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha said the people of Ladakh are not against development but they want development that benefits the locals.
In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said, “The youngsters from Ladakh told me how their beautiful homeland has been turned into a police state. Their voices have been suppressed, democratic rights crushed, and their land and fragile environment are being handed over to Modiji’s billionaire friends.” “The people of Ladakh are not against development. They want jobs and industry, but development that benefits the local people. I hope that during his visit, the home minister can understand this reality,” he added.
In the video, the Congress leader alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre does not understand that India is a multi-cultural and multi-religious country.
The Congress on Thursday also questioned the Centre’s silence on critical demands of Ladakhis and asked it to clarify its stance on providing statehood to the Union Territory as well as protection under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh took a dig at Shah over his Ladakh visit, saying he has gone for a vacation after making the “Election Commission dance to his tunes during the Assembly elections”.
Earlier in the day, Shah arrived in Ladakh to attend the first-ever international exposition of holy relics of Lord Buddha in India, officials said. During his two-day visit, Shah will pay respect to the sacred relics of Lord Buddha on Buddha Purnima, which falls on Friday.
He will also lay the foundation stone for a 10-TLPD (thousand litres per day) capacity dairy plant in Kargil and attend other dairy-related programmes. (Agencies)
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