Ladakh bodies say they are waiting for call
Fresh round of dialogue only after Home Ministry finalizes reply
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Dec 30: The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has been finalizing its response to the joint document submitted by Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) and will call the twin bodies for talks to New Delhi only after the agenda is finalized.
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“We have not received any call for talks in New Delhi so far. We are awaiting call from the MHA which is conveyed to us through the UT administration of Ladakh,” LAB co-chairman Chering Dorjay Lakruk told the Excelsior.
Asked what will be their response if talks are further delayed, Lakruk said they will wait for the MHA call as they have been conveyed by the Joint Secretary MHA, Incharge Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh Affairs that the document submitted by LAB and KDA is under examination and a detailed response is being drafted.
There have been reports that the MHA is expected to prepare its response to 29-page document submitted by the LAB and KDA on November 17 very shortly and then call twin bodies of Ladakh for talks in New Delhi. The bodies sought Statehood and Sixth Schedule status for the UT of Ladakh.
Through the document, they sought integration of proposed State of Ladakh under Article 371 as Article 371-K, 30-member Assembly, out of which, 28 seats will be reserved for the members of Scheduled Tribes (STs) of Ladakh i.e. the local people. It also sought two Lok Sabha seats for Ladakh and Autonomous District Council for each district instead of present Hill Development Councils.
“There shall be a common High Court for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and State of Ladakh to be called the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh,” the document said.
Last round of talks between the Ladakh bodies and MHA was held on October 22 in New Delhi. After the Sub Committee meeting, the MHA officials sought detailed document from the LAB and KDA on their demands which they submitted.
The Sub Committee comprised senior officers of MHA and UT of Ladakh, three members each from LAB and KDA, Ladakh MP and Chairperson-cum-CEC Kargil Hill Development Council while the High Powered Committee (HPC), whose meeting hasn’t been held for past quite some time, is headed by Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai and has six members each from LAB and KDA, Ladakh MP and Kargil Hill Council Chairman, among others.
October 22 Sub Committee meeting in New Delhi was held after nearly five months as the previous meeting took place on May 27.
Talks between the Centre, LAB and KDA had broken down after September 24 violence in Leh in which four civilians were killed and 100 others, many of them paramilitary personnel, were injured while offices of the BJP and Hill Council were stoned by the mob. Violence occurred during bandh call given by youth wing of the LAB demanding preponing of talks on the issues raised by LAB and KDA, by the Union Home Ministry.
Both the Ladakh organizations (LAB and KDA) stayed away from the dialogue slated for October 6. However, they agreed for October 22 meeting only after the MHA ordered judicial inquiry into the violence headed by a retired Judge of the Supreme Court.
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