Why Ladakh witnessed a complete shutdown, mammoth rallies on Saturday

Thousands of people took out massive rallies in the Leh and Kargil districts of Ladakh on Saturday (February 4) in response to a shutdown call given in support of four demands including separate statehood for Ladakh.

The other three demands are inclusion of the Union territory in the Sixth Cchedule of the Constitution, job reservation for locals and a parliamentary seat each in Leh and Kargil districts.

The shutdown was called by the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), organisations which have been working for the special rights of the people of the region following the abrogation of Article 370 and formation of a separate Union territory of Ladakh.

According to reports, both the outfits on January 23 had submitted a memorandum to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs seeking the fulfilment of their demands.

The organisations had reportedly also submitted a draft of a bill to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.

Sea of protesters on Leh, Kargil roads

Photos and videos of the protest rallies circulating on social media show a sea of people braving the cold and marching through the streets of Leh and Kargil while chanting slogans like ‘bahaal karo, bahaal karo’ (restore, restore), ‘democracy bahal karo’ (restore democracy), ‘Ladakh kay tribal status ko, nafiz karo nafiz karo’ (give tribal status to Ladakh) and ‘Nainsafi nahin chalegi’ (injustice won’t work).

The ‘Leh Chalo’ rally culminated at the Polo Ground in Leh. Among speakers who addressed the protesters at the venue were Magsaysay Award winner Sonam Wangchuk.

According to reports, Wangchuk told protesters that while the Centre had assured to include Ladakh in the Sixth Schedule following the abrogation of Article 370, it was now maintaining a “deafening silence” on the matter.

“Those who speak of Sixth Schedule are being subject to harassment. Now there are lobbies in the mining industry who want to destroy Ladakh. We are only demanding our constitutional rights and we will not rest until it happens,” he said.

Later protesters took out a rally from Sengge Namgyal square in Leh to the deputy commissioner’s office. A similar march was held in Kargil district in which thousands of protesters participated.

What LAB, KDA memorandum says

The protest comes even as a Centre-formed committee chaired by Minister for State for Home Nityanand Rai is holding talks with leaders of LAB and KDA on their demands. The talks, the last being held on December 4, 2023, however, have made no headway so far.

The second round of talks is scheduled for February 19 in Delhi.

While the committee during the last meeting had asked the representatives of LAB and KDA to submit a list of their demands, the latter in the memorandum submitted on January 23 had delineated the same while citing various concerns.

The memorandum notes that while the Supreme Court in its latest judgment says that Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood would be restored, no such mention was made on extending the same for Ladakh.

The document asserts that it is imperative to include Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution as like the north-eastern states, it is also home to various tribal communities – Balti, Beda, Bot, Boto, Brokpa, Drokpa, Dard, Shin, Changpa, Garra, Mon and Purigpa are a few to name.

Ladakh, which was earlier part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, was made into a Union territory when the Centre in 2019 abrogate Article 370 and stripped the latter of its special status, splitting it into two Union territories.