Four major organisations of Ladakh have submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding a Union Territory status for the region.
"On behalf of the tribal people of Ladakh, the heads representing the Buddhist communities, the Shia community, the Sunni community and the Christian community Leh hereby appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for grant of Union Territory Status with legislature for the frontier region," the memorandum said.
The memorandum, which was submitted to PM Modi last week, added that Ladakh was an independent Himalayan kingdom until it gained political status in the 15th-16th century during the reign of the Namgyal dynasty.
"The political history of Ladakh dates back to 930 A.D. when several small, sovereign principalities outlying the Western Himalayas were integrated and given a unified polity by Lha-Chen-Palgigon," it said.
"Indian Nationalism remained a dominant ideological creed and became a rallying force among the Ladakhis to fight back the Pakistanis and the Chinese who made frequent bids of conquer our land in 1948, 1962, 1965, 1971 and 1999 wars," the memorandum stated, adding that the citizens of Ladakh have always stood for the unity and integrity of India and supported the central government irrespective of the party in power.
"We... reiterate our longstanding demand for granting Union Territory status to Ladakh, which would guarantee us an administrative set-up to run our own affairs and safeguard our interests. It is absolutely erroneous to equate Kashmir valley with the rest of the State. Ladakh constitutes 69.6 % of the total J&K territory with a distinct geo-political and geo-cultural identity of its own," the memorandum submitted to the prime minister said.
The memorandum advocated that Ladakh should be given the status of a Union Territory with an elected legislature because that was the only way to get rid of the political uncertainty in the region and also fulfil the aspirations of the citizens.
"(We have) trust in your (the governmnet's) sagacity and urge upon you to fulfil our demand without any further delay," it said.
