Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/NEW DEHLI: After demands for restoration of Article 370, which gave special status to the disputed state, fell on deaf ears, Ladakh people are coming out on the streets claiming special rights that are all but gone, The Hindu reported on Thursday, quoting a key activist.
As demand for protection of land, jobs, and culture under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution gathers steam in Ladakh, Sonam Wangchuk, the education reformer and one of the most famous voices from the region, says that the Centre’s policies were alienating the youth by sowing seeds of militancy.
“The fear is not that citizens could turn against India, fear is that love for India could subside, and it is dangerous for a country that is facing Chinese. Unlike citizens in Mumbai and Delhi, citizens here have helped the Army during the war by acting as porters and supplying food,” Wangchuk said in the interview with The Hindu.
“When I wanted to fast at Khardung La, I was put under house arrest. Four days ago, the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh had come for a prize distribution ceremony at the conclusion of the ice hockey competition in the stadium in Leh. On seeing him, young children started shouting ‘Sixth Schedule’. They were taken to the police station. Has it become a crime to say Sixth Schedule in public now?” he said adding 12,000 jobs had been promised, but the recruitment process has been completed only for 800 positions.
He claimed a journalist was booked for posting a message in favour of the Sixth Schedule.
Ladakh Activist
Wangchuk, an engineer and also a climate activist, concluded a five-day fast on February 1 first to demand Statehood for a Ladakh and inclusion under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. Two thousand citizens in Leh attended the rally to conclude his agitation.
On August 5, 2019, the special status of the illegally occupied State of Jammu and Kashmir under the Article 370 of the Constitution was revoked by the Parliament, and the State bifurcated into two Union Territories, Jammu, and Kashmir and also Ladakh, the latter without a legislative Assembly.
Three years later, many civil society groups, including the influential Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA), have repeatedly targeted the street demanding constitutional safeguards.
On January 2, 2023 the Ministry of Home Affairs of India constituted a high-powered committee to “ensure the protection of area and employment” for the citizens of Ladakh. The committee members have decided to boycott till their demands are met. The Apex Body for Leh, a group comprising political leaders and parties in Ladakh, the Ladakh Buddhist Association, and the Kargil Democratic Alliance, have been demanding Statehood for Ladakh.
Echoing the sentiment, Wangchuk said that they were better off with Article 370, which ensured that factories should not be able to exploit their resources.
“Earlier, we had four members of legislative assembly MLAs in the State Assembly of illegal and occupied Jammu and Kashmir; now we have zero representation. The Lieutenant Governor, who is an outsider, is sent to govern us. One man decides everything. 90pc of the 6,000 crores allocated to Ladakh is the dispensation of a non-elected person. He may make any decision under pressure or for financial gain. When he understands the problems, it could be time for him to leave. We (people) demand full Statehood so that our voices are heard,” Wangchuk, who inspired the Hindi film Three Idiots, said.
He said that sixth schedule was part of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) manifesto during the 2019 general elections in India and the Hill Council elections in 2020, and when the assurance of restoring Statehood to illegal and occupied Jammu and Kashmir will be given, then why not for Ladakh.
