With Talks Delayed, Leaders Warn Centre: Silence Is Not an Option
Kargil, Aug 07: The Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) on Wednesday announced a three-day hunger strike here from August 9 alleging delay by the Centre in holding the next round of talks concerning the demand for statehood and Sixth Schedule for the Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh.
The strike will begin coming Saturday in Kargil town and the leaders of Leh Apex Body (LAB) have also been requested to join the protest and send a message to the central government that the people of Ladakh will not stay silent on their “genuine” demands, KDA co-chairman Asgar Ali Karbalai told reporters here.
KDA, along with LAB, has been holding talks with the Centre over their four-point agenda — statehood, Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh, a dedicated Public Service Commission (PSC) and two parliamentary seats. The two outfits have been spearheading an agitation jointly over the past several years in support of their demands.
“The last meeting of KDA and APEX with the Ministry of Home Affairs took place almost two months ago. And in that last meeting, the issues of domicile, reservations and recruitment were sorted out and we were told that the next meeting will be held within a month to discuss our main agenda (statehood and Sixth Schedule) but they (Centre) are using delaying tactics by not holding the meeting,” Karbalai, flanked by other members of the KDA, said.
He said the KDA and the LAB have decided to launch an agitation from Kargil to convey a clear message to the country, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah that the people of Ladakh will not stay silent.
“The KDA core group, in consultation with LAB, has decided to go for a three-day hunger strike from August 9 at 10 am and will culminate on August 11 at 4 pm with a massive public rally,” Karbalai said, inviting people across Ladakh to join the hunger strike.
He said the leadership of LAB were also requested to join the hunger strike so that the next course of action would be chalked out jointly and made public at the rally.
“We believe in peaceful agitation to raise our genuine, justified and constitutionally right demands. We have put forth the four-point agenda and the government addressed the issue of reservation, domicile and recruitment issues.
“With regard to two parliamentary seats, we were told that it cannot be done due to a freeze on the delimitation process till 2026, leaving only two main demands of statehood and the Sixth Schedule,” he said.
He said the people of Ladakh will resist any attempt to put the main demands in the cold storage.
