The Central Government is set to hold a new round of discussions with Ladakh’s leadership in Kargil. The focus of these talks will be on constitutional safeguards and establishing a unique governance model for the region.
Sajjad Kargili, Co-Chairman of the Kargil Democratic Alliance, said that they have called off the march from Kargil to Leh that was scheduled to start today. Climate activist and member of the Leh Apex Body, Sonam Wangchuk, said that calling off the protests was due to the prevailing weather conditions and some warmth in politics. “Due to prevailing weather conditions with cold nights, we’re making it into a symbolic 20 Km march on 23rd September. followed by martyrs day event on 24th.
He said the KDA had decided to hold a rally in Kargil on September 23.
Inconvenience regretted, look forward to joining you and marching together,” Sonam Wangchuk said in a post on X.
“The process of talks with the centre is underway. The central government is holding the next round of talks in the first week of October in Kargil. The Union Territory will also have an elected body to govern the Himalayan region under a ‘sui generis’ model, the first such experiment in India.
So instead of going ahead with a long march, we have decided to hold a rally on September 23,” said Sajjad Kargili. The central government has agreed to grant constitutional safeguards under Article 371 to Ladakh. Following the latest round of talks early last week, Ashish Kundra, Chief Secretary of Ladakh, told NDTV that Parliament will amend Article 371 to provide adequate constitutional safeguards to Ladakh.
He said the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has already started the process of granting constitutional safeguards and establishing an elected body for Ladakh. Former MP from Ladakh, Thupstan Chhewang, has said that the recent meeting between the Leh Apex Body and Kargil Democratic Alliance with the Ministry of Home Affairs was “fruitful and witnessed positive discussions on several key issues concerning Ladakh.”
