No Talks Till Normalcy Restored In Ladakh: Leh Apex Body

Leh : Hardening its position following the death of four protesters in the violence last week, the Leh Apex Body (LAB) on Monday announced that it will stay away from talks with the government till normalcy is restored and a conducive environment is created in Ladakh.
However, it said they can rethink joining the talks on October 6 if the government orders a judicial probe by a retired Supreme Court judge into the killings and releases all those taken into custody, including climate activist Sonam Wangchuk.
Addressing a joint press conference here, LAB chairman Thupstan Chhewang and co-chairman Chering Dorjay said the people of Ladakh will never tolerate the “anti-national” or “Pakistani agent” tag as they have always shown loyalty to the country.
The press conference was organised shortly after the fourth victim — a former army soldier — was cremated amid tight security in curfew-bound Leh.
The curfew, imposed last Wednesday, was relaxed for two hours at 4 PM in the entire town. There was no untoward incident reported from anywhere, officials said.
“We have unanimously agreed that the situation that is prevailing in Ladakh, keeping that in view, as long as peace is not restored and a conducive atmosphere is not created, we will not participate in any talks (with the High Powered Committee of the Home Ministry),” Chhewang, a former two-time Member of Parliament, said.
“We will urge the Home Ministry, UT administration, and the administration to take steps to address the atmosphere of fear, grief and anger that is there,” he said.
Dorjay, who spoke bout the steps needed to be taken by the government to “restore the shaken confidence” of the people, said “if the right steps are taken before the scheduled next round of talks (on October 6), they will rethink about returning to the table.”
Asked about the presence of Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) representatives in Delhi in connection with the talks, he said, “We are on a single page; we have neither talked to them nor conveyed our decision (to stay away from talks) so far. Probably, they will not have a second thought on this.”
LAB and KDA have been spearheading the agitation for statehood and the extension of the Sixth Schedule to the Union Territory.
Widespread violent protests occurred on September 24 during a shutdown called by the LAB to advance talks with the Centre on the demands for statehood and extension of the Sixth Schedule to Ladakh. Four people were killed and scores of others were injured in clashes between protesters and security personnel, while over 50 people were taken into custody for their alleged involvement in rioting.
Activist Sonam Wangchuk, the main face of the agitation, was also detained under the stringent NSA.
“After a long struggle of 70 years, the Centre granted Union Territory status to Ladakh without a legislature (in August 2019), but it was not as per our expectations and justice.
“We felt that the safeguards provided to us under Article 370 and Article 35A were eroded along with democracy, prompting us to launch a fresh agitation for our genuine rights,” Chhewang said.
He said the central government initially assured them of the safeguards, and a process of talks continued for five years on their four demands — extension of safeguards under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, statehood, separate cadre, job reservation and public service commission, and separate Lok Sabha seats.
“Our struggle was continuing in a peaceful manner, but what happened on September 24 was beyond one’s understanding; the CRPF acted like hooligans and used excessive force, killing and injuring our people and creating an atmosphere of fear, grief and anger among the people of Ladakh,” he alleged.
Authorities have maintained that the security forces were forced to take action in self defence as protesters indulged in violence.
Chhewang said LAB had been in touch with the central government and was preparing for the talks, notwithstanding the differences over the dates.
Referring to the statement of Lt Governor Kavinder Gupta and Director General of Police S D Singh Jamwal, he said they levelled serious allegations “against the people of Ladakh and such statements are not tolerable”.
“The LG says we are playing in the hands of foreign powers and referred to the people, including those from Doda and Nepal, who were injured in the clashes. DGP accused Wangchuk of involvement in anti-national activities and tried to link him to Pakistan. Our people got distressed by the allegations,” he said, demanding proof of the allegations.
He said that the youths were compelled to come on the roads due to the delay in talks.
Demanding the revocation of all cases against protesters, he said the allegations against Wangchuk, who was arrested under the National Security Act on September 26, are baseless.
“He was framed only because he was in the forefront of reminding the BJP of its promises through hunger strikes and foot marches.
“They are putting all these allegations on our people to hide their weakness. This is a very serious matter,” he said.
He said the people of Ladakh were also hurt after they were prevented from participating in the funeral of the four persons.
“They are our heroe,s and we will treat them as martyrs. We want justice for their families and the people of Ladakh,” Dorjay said.
In response to another question, he said they were against Article 370 and considered it as an obstacle in fulfilling their dream of a separate UT. (Agencies)