Ladakh leaders will hold another round of talks with officials of the Union Home Ministry, including Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, on Saturday, the outcome of which will decide between the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) ) further course of action.
“We had another round of talks with home ministry officials on Saturday and Sunday’s meeting depends on the outcome of tomorrow’s meeting,” said Thupstan Chhewang, a Buddhist spiritual leader and former BJP lawmaker.
Leaders will discuss three main issues with Home Office officials.
“A sub-committee of the Centre’s high-level committee, with three members each from KDA and LAB, will meet the officials,” he added.
The senior leader said the Center was initially keen on granting the sixth schedule to Ladakh but later took a U-turn.
“Subsequently, we launched a campaign. Our MPs promised that the government would grant the sixth schedule to Ladakh,” he said.
Tupstein noted that a memorandum had been submitted and a team set up to meet with the prime minister when the government suddenly reneged.
“After so many rounds of negotiations, the Center still cannot finalize anything. I don’t know what will happen in tomorrow’s meeting,” he said.
He lamented that three rounds of discussions with the Union Home Minister remained inconclusive.
“The Center has said that the sixth schedule is limited to only two to three northeastern states and if they grant it to Ladakh, then it may open a Pandora’s box as other states with tribal populations may start demanding it,” he explain.
He said that during the talks, the LAB and the KDA also put forward only four demands, namely statehood, a Legislative Yuan, safeguards under the Sixth Schedule and the establishment of a Public Service Commission.
“In the recent meeting, we dropped our demand for two parliamentary constituencies as there were conditions attached to delimitation before 2026. Some compromises had to be made to reach a solution,” he said.
He added that if the talks failed, then the people would be forced to intensify their agitation. “However, prominent environmentalist Sonam Wangchuk and other leaders will take the decision to fast after the outcome of the meeting,” the leader said.
He expressed hope that the Center would take a call before formulating a model code of conduct for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls as the Constitution would need to be amended to meet the requirements.
Wangchuck said: “We don’t want to die quickly, but if forced, we have to do it. In 2019, when Ladakh became a federal territory, the government promised a sixth time in its manifesto and various meeting minutes surface”.
“After that, it became silent and now it is turning against it. Certain industrial and mining lobby groups do not want Ladakh to be protected under the sixth schedule,” Wangchuk said.
We believe that we must make our voices heard because if we remain silent, these lobby groups will prevail. “We hope that the meeting will go smoothly and that we will not be forced to continue to die quickly,” he added.
Wangchuck said that this is a movement of the people of Ladakh, and hundreds of people will fast for 10 days.