Ladakh Apex Body warns of bigger agitation ahead of talks with MHA on September 9

Leh: Ahead of a sub-committee's meting on September 9 with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in Delhi on September 9, the Leh Apex Body (LAB) warned of an intensified agitation if the government fails to make "concrete" progress on its key demands.

The outfit has been demanding legislation for Ladakh at the Union Territory level, safeguards under Article 371, withdrawal of cases filed after the September 24 violence last year, compensation for victims, and publication of the inquiry commission report. LAB and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) are jointly spearheading the agitation with the demands since the granting of UT status to Ladakh in August 2019 and have held several rounds of talks with the Centre since 2021.

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LAB chairman Chering Dorje Lakruk said that though the group welcomes the meeting with MHA, it would assess the talks on the basis of their outcome.

"If the meeting produces a positive outcome... and if there is constructive and result-oriented dialogue on these issues, we will welcome it. Otherwise, we will intensify our agitation very strongly," he said.

Lakruk also expressed disappointment over the delay in the report of the inquiry commission constituted to investigate the September 24 incidents of last year that claimed four lives.

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He also questioned the pendency of cases against people booked in connection with the September 24 violence. Even as he welcomed the reported move to withdraw cases related to the July 20 Jantar Mantar incident in Delhi, he accused the Centre of "double standard" in the case of Ladakh.

According to Lakruk, only 25 cases of the 80 related to last year's violence have so far been withdrawn.

"We are all Indians, and everyone should be treated equally. The lives of the people of Ladakh are not so cheap," he said, demanding compensation for the kin of the dead and wounded in the agitation.

Meanwhile, climate activist Sonam Wangchuk said the LAB is observing September as a "Martyrs' Month" in memory of those killed, injured and jailed last year.

Wangchuk said several programmes had been planned, but the proposed padyatra from Kargil to Leh, which was scheduled to begin on September 10, had been postponed in view of the MHA talks a day earlier.

"We have collectively decided to postpone the padyatra for the time being," Wangchuk said.

The march could be revived if the September 9 talks fail to produce a satisfactory outcome, he said. The march would be organised around five days before September 24, if things to come such a pass.

"We will once again appeal to people from across India to come forward in support of Ladakh, in support of the environment, and in support of the people of Ladakh who remain steadfast on the country's borders," Wangchuk said.

He said the Apex Body expects the government to bring a detailed draft on the proposed Ladakh Assembly, including its powers and rights, to the September 9 meeting.

"If there is progress on these issues, we will consider the talks successful," he said.

Wangchuk said the circumstances surrounding September 24 were "not normal" and indicated that the LAB could disclose what it knows about the violence and incidents of arson if necessary.

"If Ladakh is not treated in the same manner... and a stepmotherly treatment is meted out to Ladakh and the people living along the borders, then we will be compelled to launch a very large-scale agitation after September 9," the activist said.