Interview | Ladakhis' agitation could turn violent if Centre pushes them to the wall: Ladakh MP
Haji Haneefa Jan says if Centre continues to turn a deaf ear to the region’s problems, “in a few years, Ladakh will remain, but Ladakhis will become history”
If the Central government continues to “oppress” Ladakhis, their protests against federal rule can take a violent turn, which can be taken advantage of by countries like Pakistan, Ladakh MP Haji Haneefa Jan has warned.
Jan spoke to The Federal a day after he too was detained for a day by Delhi Police, which has detained for a second consecutive day prominent environment activist and innovator Sonam Wangchuk and nearly 200 Ladakhi people.
Also read: Unjust, undemocratic': Protestors hold rallies, bandhs in Leh, Kargil after Wangchuk's detention
Wangchuk and fellow protesters launched a Ladakh-to-Delhi padyatra (foot march) over a month ago demanding, among other things, that the Centre lists the Union Territory created in August 2019 by bifurcating the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
Detained in Delhi
The peaceful march was to culminate at Delhi’s Rajghat today (October 2) to coincide with Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary. The protesters, including many octogenarians – women and men – were detained by the Delhi Police as they reached the now infamous Singhu border on Tuesday (October 1); their mobile phones were confiscated, and they were denied to even meet lawyers or journalists.
Jan, who tried to meet Wangchuk at the Bawana police station, was also detained for most of Tuesday.
On Wednesday, as the MP oscillated between the corridors of Delhi’s top bureaucracy and the police to secure the release of Wangchuk and others, he spoke to The Federal on the police crackdown on “peaceful protesters exercising their democratic rights”. He warned that if the Centre continues to turn a deaf ear to Ladakh’s problems, “in a few years, Ladakh will remain, but Ladakhis will become history”.
Excerpts from the exclusive interview:
Q. Sonam Wangchuk and nearly 200 other Ladakhis have been detained at Delhi’s borders. You too were placed under detention for a day. How do you view this crackdown?
Jan: I am absolutely shocked at the way the police is treating peace-loving Ladakhi people who have been on a padyatra for over a month. Throughout the protest march, there has not been a single complaint against the protesters from the administration or the local people of states they crossed. It has been a peaceful protest march throughout.
The Delhi Police told us that the detention was due to prohibitory orders across Delhi in light of VIP movement around Rajghat because of Gandhi Jayanti, the Haryana elections and other issues. We tried to tell them that ours was an absolutely peaceful march; Sonam even offered that if all 200 Ladakhis can’t be allowed to visit Rajghat today, then at least allow a group to go and the rest can visit tomorrow (October 3).
But it is extremely unfortunate that all our pleas fell on deaf ears. The police have confiscated the phones of the protesters, nobody, not even lawyers, is being allowed to meet Sonam. Why are they being treated like criminals?
Q. The protest has united Kargil and Leh districts of Ladakh, which for years refused to share a common platform on any political or even social issue. What’s at stake for Ladakhis that a peaceful region has virtually been simmering with discontent for over three years now?
Jan: All of this started because the BJP-led Central government betrayed the trust of the Ladakhi people after Article 370 was abrogated and Ladakh was carved out of Jammu and Kashmir into a separate Union Territory. If you recall, initially the decision to make Ladakh a UT was welcomed by the people of Leh district even though Kargil was sceptical.
Within two-three years, people of Ladakh understood how they have been betrayed by the Centre. They realised that they can no longer elect legislators who can be held accountable. Democracy was curtailed in Ladakh because while people could elect hill council members, the powers those members have are extremely limited. As a consequence, the Centre took a free pass to do whatever it wanted in Ladakh through a bureaucracy that has zero accountability to the people.
Ladakhis have been forced to beg for their rights – they have no employment; even the Public Service Commission has been disbanded; their right on their lands is no longer protected, their water sources are depleting not just due to climate change but also faulty government policies. All of these factors led people to demand for protection under Sixth Schedule, but the Centre has refused to listen to our pleas for help.
All our rights have been taken away and if the government continues to suppress us this way, I am afraid that in a few years Ladakh will remain, but Ladakhis will become history, because this is a fight for our identity.
Q. Ladakh is also a strategically located territory from the point of view of India’s internal and external security. What are the implications of such protests being ignored by the Centre, not just for Ladakh but the country as a whole?
Jan: We share a border with both China and Pakistan. Everyone knows about the Chinese taking over territory Indian territory in Ladakh and our government’s refusal to even acknowledge a problem on that front. The implications of such protests being ignored by New Delhi would be dire.
For one, though Ladakhis are a very peaceful people, I am scared that if the government continues to oppress them in this way and refuses to listen to our demands, the protests may take a violent turn. That will not be good for anyone except our neighbours who will try to take advantage of the situation as they used to do in the Kashmir Valley.
The government needs to realise that the Ladakhi people are not demanding anything illegal, unconstitutional or undemocratic. They want what is rightfully theirs and what the government, if it wants, can give very easily. I fail to understand under what compulsions the prime minister is refusing to listen to our people.
Q. You have now been an MP from Ladakh for four months. Have you tried to discuss these issues directly with the prime minister, the home minister or anyone else in the government?
Jan: With the exception of the prime minister, I have tried not once but multiple times to speak to various other people in the government. I spoke to the home secretary and appealed for dialogue to resume between the Centre and the high-powered committee in Ladakh set up in 2023 to resolve the issues of our people. I sent a memorandum to the home minister (Amit Shah) listing the issues and possible solutions.
I even spoke to the home minister, though very briefly, and begged him to look into the issues of Ladakh. I met various other ministers and officers in the Central government who are directly or indirectly involved with Ladakh’s affairs.
Two months back, I even offered to all these people that I can act as a mediator between the Centre and the Ladakhi people, including Sonam (Wangchuk), to find a peaceful, acceptable and mutually beneficial solution to our problems.
Q. What was the government’s response? Why didn’t you reach out to the PM directly?
Jan: Well, the home minister told me bluntly that he was busy with the elections in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir. When the home minister of the country tells you that he is busy with elections and other problem will need to wait, what is the point of reaching out to the prime minister who is visibly even busier than the home minister in the election campaign of his party?
The home secretary said he will revert with a reply, but I haven’t heard from him. I sent the memorandum to the home minister two months ago; I have not received even an acknowledgment of its receipt. The response from other officials in the government has been similar. As an MP, I feel helpless.