Ladakh ”Bandh” To Demand Statehood, Constitutional Safeguards
In the Leh and Kargil districts, roads wear a deserted look
After the abrogation of Article 370 giving Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, the Centre had promised to restore statehood at an “appropriate time”. Recently, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said that statehood will be restored only after assembly elections are held in the union territory.
The Delimitation Commission constituted in March 2020 to demarcate assembly seats has not submitted its report so far. The process of assembly elections may be initiated only after the assembly seats are demarcated. Thus so far, there is no indication when assembly elections will be held.
When Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into two union territories, the move was celebrated in Leh by the Ladakh Buddhist Association. Now it has gone into a political alliance with Muslim dominated Kargil Democratic Alliance, demanding statehood and constitutional guarantees for job and land rights exclusively for the people of Ladakh.
After the formation of the alliance, Thupstan Chewang, chief of the Leh apex body, has said that the entire Ladakh stands united in their demand for statehood and constitutional safeguards like it had enjoyed under the provisions of special status where no outsider could own land and given jobs in Ladakh.
Initially, the BJP unit of Ladakh was also a part of the alliance but later pulled out of it as the party came under criticism for “doublespeak”.
Except for BJP, all the political parties have been demanding restoration of statehood before elections. The regional parties that have challenged the Centre’s decision in the Supreme Court have been demanding restoration of special status which they say was the only constitutional link between the erstwhile state and the union of India.
This shutdown is being observed in Ladakh to press for the demand of statehood for the region that was carved out as a separate union territory in August 2019.
In the Leh and Kargil districts, roads had a deserted look. All commercial and business activities have come to a standstill in Leh. The bandh call has been given by a Leh-based apex body, which represents various social, religious and political groups in Leh, and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA). Both groups have formed an alliance and threatened an agitation in support of their demand for statehood. They also demand constitutional safeguards on the lines of the 6th schedule; separate parliament seats for Leh and Kargil districts and recruitment for 12,000 posts in Ladakh.
This is also the first time when the leadership in Muslim-majority Kargil and Buddhist-dominated Leh have joined hands for their political future.
The move may snowball into a major challenge for the central government if not handled properly. This may prove to be a major headache amid a protracted military standoff along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh. The carving out of Ladakh as a separate union territory was a historic move. Now steps must be taken to bring development at a rapid pace and end decades of discrimination by Srinagar.
