Hours after two Ladakh-based organisations called for a shutdown in the Union Territory, Union Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai on Saturday met the protesting members in Leh and listened to their demands, including Statehood and special Constitutional position on the lines of Sixth Schedule.
Mr. Rai triggered sharp reactions from local organisations when he invited only the elected members of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (LAHDC) from Leh and Kargil to meet him during his visit to the Union Territory.
The Leh Apex Body (LAB), comprising religious and political organisations, including the Bharatiya Janata Party, from Leh district, and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), comprising several groups from Kargil, described the MoS’ invitation to the elected representatives as “a move to divide the people of Ladakh”.
Both the organisations came into existence after August 5, 2019 when Ladakh was carved out as a separate Union Territory. They have been campaigning for special status to protect local culture, language and ecology.
The Ladakh-wide shutdown call by these groups affected normal life there on Saturday. Shutdown was observed despite the MoS extending his invitation to the members of the organisations from Leh and Kargil on Saturday afternoon.
“We collectively raised a four-point agenda with the Union Minister, which included Statehood for Ladakh, guarantees to protect demography, culture, environment, etc. on the lines of the Sixth Schedule, fast pacing the employment exercise, and granting one more Parliament seat to the Union Territory, which has only one seat as of now,” Sajjad Kargili, a member of the KDA, told The Hindu.
Speaker visits LAC
Meanwhile, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who is on a three-day tour of Ladakh, visited forward areas, including the Pangong Tso lake near the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
He interacted with the elected members of the LAHDC and defence personnel. Mr. Birla praised “the amazing chemistry between the local people of Ladakh and the defence personnel, which makes this area totally safe”.
Konchok Stanzin, an elected representative from Chushul, submitted a representation before the Speaker and demanded better mobile connectivity and electricity supply in the border areas.
“Alternative land in Leh city for border residents should be identified during the war-like situation at borders,” Mr. Stanzin said.
He also demanded the creation of Changthang as a separate district, and called for de-notification of human inhabited areas from the Changthang cold desert sanctuary.
