The demand for a Union Territory (UT) status for the Ladakh region on Monday heated up the politics in the country’s cold desert with thousands of locals taking to roads while reviving their mass agitation to pressurise the Central government for the settlement of their decades-long issue.

The protest rally, called by the Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA), had been taken out almost a fortnight after the region’s lone MP Thupstan Chhewang resigned as the primary member of the BJP and Lok Sabha on November 14, accusing the saffron party leadership of betraying the people of Ladakh.

Thousands of people belonging to the Buddhist community, including women and elders, assembled outside the LBA office and marched towards the historic Polo Ground in Leh town while chanting slogans in support of their demand for a UT status to Ladakh with an elected legislature.

The rally, led by LBA president Tsewang Thinles, was also attended by Chief Executive Councillor of the Leh Council Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, executive councillors and Nubra constituency MLA Deldan Namgail.

“Ladakhis consistently have been demanding separation from J&K and asking for the UT status with legislature. It is absolutely erroneous to equate the Kashmir valley with the rest of the state. Ladakh constitutes 69.6 per cent of the total J&K territory, with a distinct geo-political and geo-cultural identity. The aspirations of the people of Ladakh and their national outlook are different from the Kashmiris. Leaders of the Valley can never be the leaders of our people and our assimilation with the Kashmiris is next to impossible,” Thinles said in a memorandum to Governor Satya Pal Malik through Leh Deputy Commissioner Avny Lavasa.

The LBA chief said any attempt at handling the Kashmir issue in isolation by ignoring the problems of Ladakh would not only be short-sighted, but also counter-productive. “We strongly feel that the UT status with an elected legislature is the only instrument through which the present political ambivalence can be ended,” Thinles said, adding, “Representatives and leaders of various religious and political parties will be taken into confidence to take forward our struggle vigorously.”

The speakers, in the rally, also demanded the inclusion of Bhoti language in the 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution, establishment of a police range in the Ladakh region, setting up of a full-fledged university and safeguarding the business interests of local traders by bringing a strong legislation.

On November 19, Chhewang had written a hard-hitting letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah in which he accused the party leadership of betraying the people of Ladakh.

On May 4, 2014, former national president of the BJP and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, during his ‘Bharat Vijay’ rally at Polo Ground in Leh, had announced the “grant of UT status to Ladakh within six months” if the BJP was voted to power in the 2014 parliamentary elections.

Courtesy: The Tribune: 26th Nov, 2018