‘There would be more protests if the Centre does not pay any heed to four demands’.
SRINAGAR: On 2 November, the entire Union Territory of Ladakh, in a united voice, asked the central government to accept their four demands including statehood to Ladakh, two Parliament seats, two Rajya Sabha seats and protection of their rights under the sixth schedule of Constitution.
Both Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) and the Apex Body of Leh have made an alliance and held protests on 2 November, for full statehood to the Ladakh region along with the legislature. It is in place to mention that the BJP government at the Centre has made Ladakh region a separate Union Territory without legislature and initially people of Ladakh welcomed the decision on 5 August 2019, celebrating it as freedom from the hegemony of Kashmir.
J&K regional political parties, including National Conference, PDP and recently floated political outfit Azad Democratic Party by Ghulam Nabi Azad, are in touch with the entire political leadership of Ladakh region. Most of these political parties are the components of KDA and the Apex Body of Leh.
On 2 November, the day of protest held by people of Kargil and Leh, former Chief Minister and National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah was camping in Kargil, in an apparent signal to support the movement of this desert region. Omar Abdullah talked to reporters at Kargil and said that people of Leh and Kargil are being disempowered by the bureaucracy and the Lieutenant Governor appointed by the Centre.
He said that even the Chief Executive Councilors of LHDC and KHDC have no powers now because all the powers to govern the Ladakh region are with the Lieutenant Governor and other bureaucrats. The renewed demand and protests, both in Kargil and Leh, have shown that there would be more protests if the Centre government does not pay any heed to their four demands put forth by them in the joint press conference on 2 November, again.
Both KDA and the Apex Body of Leh, which are the amalgams of almost all the political and religious outfits including local BJP units, have appealed to the Central government to accept their demands and address their aspirations. They have also announced a core group of both Leh and Kargil leadership for the formulation of future strategy so that their demands are fulfilled.
They announced in the press conference that Tsering Dorjay and Nasir Munshi would be the Conveners of the Core Committee, while Thupstan Chhewang, Padma Stanzin, Thinles Angmo, Qamar Ali Akhoon, Sajjad Kargali, and Asgar Karbalaie would be its members. They announced that if the central government does not look into their demands, they will intensify protests across the Ladakh region and will not rest until the demands are fulfilled by the government. The visit of Omar Abdullah amid the preparations for the protests across the Ladakh region has resulted in a reaction from the BJP Ladakh unit and they have cautioned the National Conference not to vitiate the atmosphere in this region.
Meanwhile, like Mehbooba Mufti, former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has also announced that he will not contest the coming Assembly elections unless statehood of Jammu and Kashmir was restored. Mehbooba Mufti was the first former Chief Minister to announce that she will not contest the elections unless Article 370 was restored and statehood was given back. The National Conference at the ground level has started mobilizing its cadres for the coming Assembly elections and a list of constituency heads was prepared by the party and Farooq Abdullah is heading this entire process across Jammu and Kashmir.