“The people of Ladakh are angry. They feel betrayed," Magsaysay Award-winning educationist Sonam Wangchuk told The Quint following New Delhi's dismissal of the demands of those from his land.
Wangchuk – who is on a 21-day long fast extendable till death in support of the Ladakhis at Nawang Dorjay Stobdan Memorial stupa in Leh – maintained that if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had decided to not fulfill their promises, the people would also not "bow down” before them and carry on with their protests.
"The way they (the government) were delaying the process, it is evident that they were in no mood to address our demands,” Wangchuk said. Adding, “It was in the BJP’s manifesto during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections that they will provide the Sixth Schedule for the region but they ditched it."
While leading a rally in the Leh district along with prominent figures such as Nawang Dorje Lacrook from the Leh Apex Body, Wangchuk said they are ready to face anything but won’t step back.
“We will reach out to every citizen of the country and the political parties for support,” he told The Quint. adding “People are angry and this will reflect in the upcoming elections”
Ladakhis Adamant on Demands Be Met Completely
On 4 March, the central government made it clear that they couldn’t meet the expectations of the people. However, some safeguards can be extended.
The demands are constitutional safeguards along the lines of the sixth schedule of the Indian Constitution, full-fledged Statehood for Ladakh, an early recruitment process, a Public Service Commission for Ladakh, and Separate Lok Sabha seats for Leh and Kargil districts.
Over a dozen leaders representing the prominent civil society groups, namely the Apex Body of Leh (ABL) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), were camping in New Delhi from 19 February till 4 March as the talks were going on with a High Powered Committee (HPC) for Ladakh headed by Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai. The HPC was constituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Why Did the Talks Fail?
Sajjad Kargili, a member of KDA said that even though the first few rounds of talks were positive, however, the government made it clear in the last round of talks that they aren’t going to extend the sixth schedule and statehood to Ladakh.
"Earlier they (MHA) were ready to put our demands on agenda, however in the last round of meeting, they categorically refused to discuss our demands and we left," Kargili who attended the meeting told The Quint.
He said that they were called by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the same day and they held a detailed discussion with him with regard to the demands.
"He (Amit Shah), however, said they can’t provide 6th schedule and statehood to Ladakh,” Kargili said.
He said the representatives didn’t agree with his arguments and told him that if statehood can be provided to Jammu and Kashmir, why can't the same be extended to Ladakh?
Chering Dorjay, a member of LAB told The Quint that they were informed that the government will empower both the Hill councils of Leh and Kargil and will provide safeguards of land and job rights under a different law.
“Both MHA representatives and HM Amit Shah made it clear that our demands can’t be fulfilled, so we left and came back to Ladakh," Dorjay said.
According to him, the leaders are likely to meet soon and decide the future course of action.
Outbreak of Fresh Protests in Leh
Amid freezing temperatures, thousands of people in the Leh district of Ladakh came out and registered their protest after the talks between the civil society groups and New Delhi failed for the third time.
The town observed a complete shutdown on Wednesday and Thursday last week –the call for which was given by social and religious organisations.
Stanzin Achi, a student who participated in the rally said that people are very upset with the government’s decision and there is a sense of “otherisation”
“Ladakh is an ecologically fragile zone. We have some apprehensions and the government should listen to our pleas,” Achi said.
He further added that they "deserve" the sixth schedule due to Ladakh's population consisting of over 90 per cent tribal individuals.
BJP’s Non-Compliance Worsens Tensions
However, experts say that the central government seems to be reluctant to give either statehood or sixth schedule status to Ladakh because it had promised neither while reorganising J&K state in 2019.
"Ladakh was meant to be a UT without Assembly. Despite promising Statehood and Assembly for J&K, New Delhi is yet to act on it because of political considerations," said Praveen Donthi, a senior analyst for the International Crisis Group Think Tank based in New Delhi.
He further added, “Unless there are substantial political dividends to be gained, the BJP government seems to be reluctant to make any administrative moves."
But the people of the cold desert are firm on their demands and believe that the central government needs to treat Ladakh differently keeping in view the borders with China and Pakistan.
"The people irrespective of their religion and caste are united and we will jointly fight for our rights, come what may,” said Kargili.
(Auqib Javeed is an independent journalist based in Jammu and Kashmir. He has been reporting on Human rights, politics, insurgency, business and economy and climate change from the J&K. This is an opinion article and the views expressed are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)
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