New Delhi: Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), an amalgam of trade unions, social, political and religious groups from Ladakh staged a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Wednesday demanding statehood, sixth schedule under the constitution, job reservation for local Ladakhis, a separate Public Service Commission for Ladakh, and two parliamentary seats for Leh and Kargil for their representation at the Centre.
Speaking at the venue, Sonam Wangchuk, an educationist, innovator and Magsaysay Award winner, who recently completed a five-day climate fast in Ladakh, said: "Speaking of the Sixth Schedule is not a crime. When the Union Government in August 2019 gave us the representation of a Union Territory, we welcomed the move and it gave us hope. But since then that feeling of happiness has diminished."
"Our youth in Ladakh have become job less as there's a scarcity of opportunities. My main concern has always been environmental protection, the protection of ecology, glaciers and mountains but now there's one more thing that has been added and that is democracy. When we became a Union territory, we were happy as we were promised a legislature but all we got was a UT without a legislature."
Those who participated in the protest included both LAB, KDA officials, locals from Ladakh, and Ladakhi students studying in Delhi with the crowd echoing the slogans of 'Free Ladakh from Bureaucracy' and 'Ladakh demands Democracy'. Wangchuk said that India is viewed by the world as not just a secular country but a place where "diversity is not tolerated but rather celebrated, respected and enjoyed."
Taking a jibe at the Union government, he said: "We've been protesting this for quite some time now but it seems that our voice hasn't reached the government. So to let them hear our voice, we've come from Ladakh to the capital near the Parliament and we believe and hope that the government would give us statehood and the sixth schedule under the constitution."
"People ask me why Ladakh being such a small place and small population needs statehood. So I need to tell them that Sikkim which is also a very small state has the status of statehood, so why can't Ladakh have it? Being located in a very sensitive region, it needs special protection", he said. “There have been no job postings for the last three years. The government had promised 12,000 jobs but not more than 400 have been given. Most of the educated youth is unemployed,” Wangchuk said.
Later without taking any names, he said "People from different countries have awarded me. But people ask me why India hasn't awarded you yet. In reply, I tell them I've been awarded but with FIRs and enquiries. And I believe that I would one day receive an award even if I would get it after my death. And I hope and believe that the issue of Ladakh would be raised in the next session of Parliament."
It is pertinent to note here that on August 5, 2019, the hitherto state of Jammu and Kashmir was stripped of its special status and bifurcated into two union territories – one being Jammu and Kashmir, and the other Ladakh (without a legislature). While the people of the Buddhist majority Leh welcomed the move and saw this move as a major step toward the realization of their long-standing demand for autonomy and self-governance bit on the same side, the Muslim-dominated region of Kargil opposed the move and protested against it.
After witnessing a spate of high-intensity protests in Ladakh, the Ministry of Home Affairs in December of last year formed a high-power committee but the next following month, both LAB and KDA refused to join any discussions with the committee.
Amid this ongoing agitation, the government on Sunday appointed a new Lieutenant Governor for the union territory of Ladakh. BD Mishra, a former brigadier of the Indian Army, and present Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, has been appointed as the LG of Ladakh. This happened after Lieutenant Governor Radha Krishna Mathur on Saturday quietly left his office in Leh.
