NEW DELHI, Feb 19: The Ladakh civil society groups have called off their proposed indefinite hunger strike scheduled from Tuesday after a meeting with officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday.
The Centre has agreed to convene a meeting on February 24 to discuss their demands which include Statehood for Ladakh, granting the region tribal status through inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, and constitution of a Public Service Commission for Ladakh,
Former BJP MP from Ladakh, Thupstan Chhewang (76), and education reformer Sonam Wangchuk had announced an indefinite hunger strike from Tuesday to demand constitutional safeguards for the Union Territory. On February 3, Ladakh had observed a complete shutdown as thousands gathered in Leh with demands to protect its cultural identity, environment, job reservation for locals, and a parliamentary seat each for Leh and Kargil.
A day before the February 3 shutdown, the MHA had invited the civil society leaders for the second round of high-powered committee dialogue, which was scheduled on Monday. The committee comprises members of the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) and is headed by Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai.
On Monday, LAB and KDA issued a statement that a joint sub-committee would be constituted for carrying forward the exercise. The sub-committee will comprise Mr Chhewang, Chering Dorjay Lakrook and Nawang Rigzin Jora, representing the LAB, and Qamar Ali Akhoon, Asgar Ali Karbalai and Sajjad Kargili from the KDA. The statement said the names of the members have been conveyed to Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla.
“All members of the sub-committee are in Delhi and we look forward to fruitful discussions at the next meeting. In view of this significant development we have decided to drop for the time being our plan to go on hunger strike from tomorrow [February 20],” the statement said.
A source said at the meeting, MHA officials did not want to commit to a discussion on the issue of Statehood and constitutional safeguards, and instead proposed to enhance the financial powers of hill councils of Leh and Kargil. However, the members were unanimous in demanding time-bound assurance to discuss their demands.
After the Centre decided to end the special constitutional position of the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), it was split it into two U.T.s – J&K and Ladakh on August 5, 2019. Ladakh was turned into a U.T. without a Legislative Assembly.
(Manas Dasgupta)