Ladakh statehood row: LAB, KDA announce fresh protest; set pre-conditions for resuming talks with Centre

Leh: Announcing fresh protests in support of their demands for statehood and constitutional safeguards, Ladakh representatives on Tuesday reiterated their conditions including judicial inquiry into last month’s violence for resuming talks with the Centre.

The Leh Apex Body (LAB) and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) said they will soon hold a two-hour silent march from 10 am followed by three-hour blackout from 6 pm same day in the entire Ladakh in support of the demands for statehood and Sixth Schedule status for the Union Territory.

“The decision was taken in a joint meeting of the core committee of the two bodies. The date for the protest will be made public shortly but the protest will be held within days,” co-chairman of KDA Asgar Ali Karbalai told reporters here.

Flanked by senior leaders of both the groups including co-chairman of LAB Chering Dorjay Lakruk and Ladakh MP Mohd Haneefa Jan, Karbalai said the protest is meant to highlight that “Ladakh is still in darkness and is engulfed in an atmosphere of fear”.

“There is harassment going on and our protest will convey our resolve that as long as we do not get justice and the constitutional rights, especially the statehood and the Sixth Schedule status, we will not remain silent,” he said.

He said they are in touch with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the UT administration and have given in writing the demands for resumption of dialogue including judicial inquiry by a Supreme Court judge into September 24 violence that left four innocent persons dead and scores of others injured.

“We are seeking unconditional release of all 70 detained persons including our hero Sonam Wangchuk and adequate compensation for the families of the deceased people besides the critically injured persons,” he said.

Karbalai said Ladakhis have always been peaceful and are ready to sacrifice everything for the country. “Our motto is peaceful. We are followers of Mahatma Gandhi and we are following his path to achieve our goal.”

"As long as the conditions set by the LAB and KDA are not fulfilled, Karbalai said “there is no chance of resuming the talks with the Ministry of Home Affairs."

Demanding an immediate end to the alleged harassment of the people, he said “they are using pressure tactics to make people speak in their favour and also trying to destroy all the evidence”.

“They are mistaken if they think we will be cowed down by such tactics. Ladakhis will not bow down to threats and will never be scared or intimidated. They should not assume that the silence is normalcy but rather is a sign of a big storm. Before that storm rises, they should be careful and stop the harassment,” he said.

Karbalai said they are hopeful that the situation in the UT will improve and “the Ladakhis will once again live with respect, decency and dignity”.

Lakruk strongly defended Wangchuk, the climate activist who was detained under the National Security Act, and claimed that all the allegations against him are baseless.

“We want an inquiry from a retired or serving Supreme Court judge alone. We have already rejected their proposal for an inquiry by a high court judge,” he said.

“Our struggle will continue in a peaceful manner...we will intensify our agitation in the coming winter months as this is the period when tourism and agricultural activities virtually come to a standstill in Leh district,” he added.