After holding a protest at Jammu, the agitating groups of Ladakh have decided to shift their ongoing stir to New Delhi to mount pressure on the Union Government to accept their demands including statehood to the mountainous region.
"Very soon we will hold a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi as part of our agitation", Asgar Ali Karbalaie, leader of the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) told International Bussiness Times.
"Due to hostile weather conditions, it is difficult rather impossible to carry on agitation in Ladakh so we decided to hold a protest at Jammu", he said, adding, "now our text venue of the protest is New Delhi to seek the attention of the nation toward our demands, and date for the same will be finalized very soon".
"Most probably we will hold a protest at New Delhi in the month of February", he said and asserted that the ongoing agitation for the demands of the people of Ladakh will be intensified in days to come.
Asgar Ali Karbalaie claimed that ongoing agitation has received an overwhelming response in both Leh and Kargil districts of the Union Territory of Ladakh. "We will take this agitation to the logical conclusion.
He said that KDA and Leh Apex Body would jointly decide on the future course of action of the agitation, which was resumed after holding a protest at Jammu on Sunday.
KDA, LAB are jointly agitating for statehood and other demands
Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) together with the Leh Apex Body (LAB), a collective of several trade unions, tourist bodies, and religious and political groups have launched an agitation to press for their core demands, including Statehood for the Union Territory, which was carved out of the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019.
The KDA and the LAB apex body claim to represent the majority voice in Ladakh and see the current Union Territory status sans a legislative assembly as political marginalization.
Except for BJP, all political parties have joined the stir. The BJP, which rules Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) Leh, stayed away from the agitational programme in Ladakh. The BJP has distanced itself from the LAB as well as KDA on the ground that the grant of Union Territory was a major demand of Ladakhis, which was accepted by the Central Government on August 5, 2019.
Main demands of the people of Ladakh
- Ful-fledged statehood for the Union Territory of Ladakh.
- Constitutional safeguards under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India.
- Recruitment and job reservation for the youth of the Union Territory of Ladakh and separate Public Service Commission for the UT.
- Creation of two separate Lok Sabha constituencies for Leh and Kargil districts of Ladakh.
Ladakhi groups hold protest at Jammu
Prominent leaders from Ladakh held a protest here on Sunday as part of a campaign to press for their four demands including full statehood for the Union Territory and safeguards under the sixth schedule of the Constitution to the region.
"We have decided to stay away from the high-powered committee constituted recently by the ministry of home affairs as the government ignored our four-point agenda and also paid no heed to our suggestion about the composition of the panel," former Lok Sabha member and chairman of the Apex body Thupstan Chhewang told reporters.
Ladakhi leaders said they have already forwarded their reservations over the constitution of the high-powered committee to the government.
"We want the government to include our demands in the agenda of the dialogue and also give due representation to the representatives named by the Apex Body and the KDA", they said.
