New Delhi: The Centre should resume talks with the agitating groups from Ladakh over their demands including safeguards under the Sixth Schedule, Ladakh MP Mohmad Haneefa said as a march led by climate activist Sonam Wangchuk is set to reach the national capital on Monday.
The march called by the Leh Apex Body (LAB), led by Wangchuk, started from Leh on September 1 and is scheduled to reach Delhi’s Singhu border on Monday evening. Members from the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), will also join the group from Leh.
On October 2, Gandhi Jayanti, the groups have announced, they will march to Delhi’s Rajghat, while a public gathering is planned at Jantar Mantar on October 3.
The two groups have jointly spearheaded an agitation over the past four years in support of statehood for Ladakh, extension of the Constitution’s Sixth Schedule, early recruitment process along with a public service commission for Ladakh and separate Lok Sabha seats for Leh and Kargil districts.
The talks between Ladakh representatives and the central government ended in March without any concrete outcome.
“Since the last three years, KDA and LAB have been raising the four-point demands. We have been holding dialogue with the government, but there has been no outcome,” Haneefa told PTI on phone.
“We are peace-loving people. We understand Ladakh is a strategically important area. We have not done anything to affect national security,” he asserted.
“A high-powered committee was formed, meetings were also held, but the talks got stalled. After elections, we were hoping that the government would initiate talks again, but that did not happen,” he said.
Haneefa said the foot march led by Wangchuk is being undertaken to raise their four-point agenda.
“I met the home secretary, I am trying to get an appointment with the home minister. I urge the Union government to resume talks that got stalled before the elections,” he said.
Haneefa, who is an Independent MP, said that the recruitment for vacant government posts to address the unemployment issue was among the key demands which need to be addressed immediately.
“The agenda has a point on a recruitment board which is most important right now. Unemployment is the most burning issue in Ladakh and it’s important to resolve it,” he said.
The Ladakh MP added that he will write to Home Minister Amit Shah over the issue as well.
Asked about the recent announcement on the formation of new districts in Ladakh, Haneefa, while welcoming it, said it would not make a difference.
“It’s a separate issue. Even if you announce ten districts, if we are in this setup, Ladakh will remain but Ladakhis will be finished. Our identity will be destroyed,” he said.
Home Minister Shah announced last month that five new districts — Zanskar, Drass, Sham, Nubra and Changthang — will be created in Ladakh.
“We are in the world’s biggest democracy but the people of Ladakh are deprived of democracy. People have realised they will lose everything in this bureaucratic system,” Haneefa said.
“Unless we get safeguards as the four points agenda demands, our identity and culture will be destroyed.”
Haneefa also said that more populated areas in Kargil have been overlooked in the formation of districts.
The Lok Sabha MP, who recently became a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Defence, said that he will raise issues related to his constituency in the panel.
“The Army has a big role in Ladakh, we share borders with both China and Pakistan. There are several issues that I will try to address,” he said.
“There are several issues faced by people who live close to the borders, the shepherds have been facing problems. I will raise these issues in the panel,” he said.
Wangchuk went on a 21-day fast in March, surviving only on salt and water, to demand statehood for Ladakh and its inclusion under the Constitution’s Sixth Schedule to help protect the ecologically-fragile region from “greedy” industries.
The Sixth Schedule contains provisions related to the administration of tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram through autonomous district councils (ADCs).
The ADCs are granted autonomy on legislative, judicial and administrative matters and can make laws regarding land, forest, water and agriculture, etc. (PTI)
