KARGIL: Extending an olive branch to break the months-long logjam, the Leh Apex Body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance have expressed their willingness to hold dialogue with the Centre on their four-point agenda, including the demand for full statehood and extension of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution to the region.
The LAB and KDA, the leading powerful socio-political groups of the union territory, took this decision after a joint meeting held at a resort here on Tuesday.
The meeting, which was attended by prominent members of both the organisations including LAB chairman Thupstan Chhewang, KDA co-chairpersons Asgar Ali Karbalai and Qamar Ali Akhoon, and former MP Chering Dorjay, also extended support to the 10-day fast announced by renowned educationist Sonam Wangchuk on the four-point agenda.
“We are ready for talks with the Centre, whether at the level of home minister or his deputy, on the four-point agenda for Ladakh safeguards. We want to convey to the Government of India and the people of the country that we will never shy away from the dialogue,” Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) co-chairperson Asgar Ali Karbalai told reporters after the meeting.
“If the government extends an invitation, the core committee of the bodies will select a joint delegation for the dialogue,” he said.
Karbalai said the people of Ladakh are “serious and sincere” in their support for the four-point agenda, which also includes separate Lok Sabha seats for Leh and Kargil and a recruitment drive for the local educated youth.
These two organisations are coalitions of socio-religious, political and youth organisations of Leh and Kargil districts and were formed after August 5, 2019, when the Centre abrogated the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated it into Union territories of J-K and Ladakh.
They later joined hands and came out with the four-point agenda and held a series of protests in Leh, Kargil, Jammu and Delhi.
The Leh Apex Body (LAB) had two separate meetings with the Union home minister, while KDA had one meeting last year but later decided to stay away from a high-powered committee constituted by the home ministry on the pretext that the government had completely ignored the four-point agenda and also paid no heed to their suggestion about the composition of the panel.
Karbalai said the meeting also extended its support to renowned social reformist and educationist Sonam Wangchuk’s proposed fast.
“Earlier Wangchuk had a five-day protest fast in January and now he is holding a 10-day-long fast from May 26 in support of the four-point agenda. Both KDA and LAB stand with him,” he said.
The 6th Schedule of the constitution essentially gives financial and social autonomy to certain regions. The Constitution requires that 50% of a region’s population should be tribal to be included into the sixth schedule. Wangchuk has been heading the protests demanding sixth schedule for Ladakh, which has around 95% of its population as tribals.
Karbalai also said the meeting also discussed the recruitment of educated youth and called for making Ladakh residence certificate compulsory for all kinds of jobs, whether gazetted or non-gazetted posts, in the Union territory.
