Will go ahead with or without BJP, says LAB chief
*Centre not averse to 6th Schedule-like status, Distts etc
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Aug 23: In what could be a major political development in Ladakh, the BJP and one of the religious organizations are set to dissociate themselves from the demand for Statehood to Ladakh on the ground that the Union Territory was their “prime goal” and the Centre is committed to provide Sixth Schedule-like status while the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) have changed the stance altogether.
LAB chief Thupstan Chhewang had written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah seeking appointment for joint delegation of the LAB and KDA about two weeks back but there has been no response so far.
Highly placed sources told the Excelsior that the Central Government is also concerned over frequent change of stance by the LAB which had initially told a high-level Committee set up by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs that they want Sixth Schedule or it’s like status, then sought Legislature for the UT and has now raised new demand of full-fledged Statehood which automatically includes Legislature notwithstanding the fact that population of Ladakh is around 2.8 lakh while electorates stood at 1.59 lakh.
Senior BJP leaders, however, said that the party will devise its strategy on the fresh demands raised after LAB and KDA came together on August 2 in second round of talks held in Leh. However, without being quoted, senior BJP leaders confirmed that they have decided to dissociate themselves from latest demands put forth by the LAB and KDA.
“The BJP will not back the demands projected by the LAB and KDA. While the BJP unit from Kargil has already dissociated itself from the KDA, the Ladakh UT unit of the BJP is also of the view that new demands of the two bodies can’t be supported. One of the religious organizations is also likely to announce its opposition to fresh demands projected by Leh and Kargil bodies on August 2,” sources privy to the latest developments said.
Senior BJP leaders were of the view that the people of Leh had been struggling for past several years for the status of Union Territory to Ladakh and the demand was met by the BJP Government at the Centre. “Though some issues are there like protection of land, jobs and culture etc, the Central Government has already expressed commitment to this by providing Sixth Schedule or it’s like status to Ladakh. We are not going to support the Statehood demand,” they added.
LAB chief Thupstan Chhewang told the Excelsior that he had sent a communication to Union Home Minister Amit Shah about two weeks back seeking appointment for discussion on the issues raised jointly by the LAB and KDA but there has been no response to his letter so far.
“We have also sent five names for LAB and four from KDA to the Home Ministry who will like to meet the Home Minister,” Chhewang said.
On BJP’s reported opposition to their latest demands, Chhewang said they will go ahead with the demands with or without the BJP as they have been finalized in a joint meeting of the Leh and Kargil representatives.
“If required, we will even agitate for our demands,” Chhewang, a former two-time Lok Sabha member from Ladakh who had quit the BJP ahead of 2019 elections, said.
It may be mentioned here that Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) Leh CEC-cum-Chairman Tashi Gyaltson and BJP district Leh chief Tashi Khachutse had abstained from the press conference addressed by the LAB and KDA representatives jointly after August 2 meeting in which they had stated that leadership of Leh and Kargil districts has joined hands to demand full-fledged Statehood for Ladakh. The press conference was addressed by LAB chief Thupstan Chhewang and KDA chairman and co-chairman Qamar Ali Akhoon and Asgar Ali Karbalaie respectively.
Sources said the Central Government is not averse to the grant of Sixth Schedule-like status to Ladakh.
The Central Government is likely to concede the demand for grant of two districts—one each to Leh and Kargil and further empowerment of two Hill Development Councils, if projected by the UT administration or other bodies.
“It will, however, be difficult for the Central Government to consider the demand for full-fledged Statehood or Legislature to the Union Territory of Ladakh in view of very less population and electorates. Moreover, demand from Leh was always for the Union Territory for which they had launched struggle long back and even people sacrificed their lives during the agitations. Kargil never even supported the demand for UT and always called for staying with Jammu and Kashmir with special status,” sources pointed out.
As far as dialogue with the Leh Apex Body and Kargil Democratic Alliance is concerned, the Central Government is likely to go ahead with the talks after nomination of new Minister as earlier former Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy was Incharge of the MHA team holding talks with Leh and Kargil bodies but he was elevated as the Cabinet Minister last month. There were reports that Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai could be the new Incharge for dialogue though a formal announcement is yet to be made by the Union Home Ministry.
As per 2011 Census, the population of Ladakh was 2.74 lakh which could be around 2.8 lakh presently. During 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Ladakh had 1.59 lakh electorates.
The LAB and KDA have already held one round of talks each with the Union Home Ministry team separately and projected their demands. Now, the two groups have joined hands and will meet the team jointly as and when they are called.
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