Ladakh L-G RK Mathur removed amid rising protests by civil society organisations
The Hindu reported on Sunday that Ladakh’s Lieutenant Governor, R.K. Mathur, has been removed from his position by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
This change in leadership was announced through a communication from the President of India’s office, stating that Brig. (Retd.) B.D. Mishra, the current governor of Arunachal Pradesh, would take over as the new Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh.
The resignation of Mathur has been accepted.
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The move comes amid growing unrest in Ladakh, where civil society groups, such as the Leh Apex Body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), have been calling for constitutional safeguards, including inclusion under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, which provides protection for tribal-dominated areas.
The Leh Apex Body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) in Ladakh have planned a demonstration in Delhi on February 15th.
Mathur, a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from the 1977 batch, was named the first Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh in 2019, following the revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) under Article 370 of the Constitution. This led to the division of the former state into two Union Territories – J&K and Ladakh, with the latter lacking a legislative assembly.
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In an interview, education reformer and one of the leading voices from Ladakh, Sonam Wangchuk, expressed concerns about the concentration of power in the hands of the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh who is an outsider.
Wangchuk noted that a single person, who is not elected, holds the power to make decisions about 90% of the ₹6,000 allocated to Ladakh, and may be swayed by external pressures or financial interests. He emphasized the need for full statehood in order to ensure that the voices and needs of the local community are heard and addressed.