Religious, Political and Social bodies Unite for this Protest...
On Sunday joint protests were held in Jammu comprising of people and leaders beyond social, political and religious boundaries, barring BJP, demanding statehood for ladakh and safeguards for the people of that region under the 6th schedule.
“When the Centre made Ladakh a UT without a Legislative Assembly, we thought it will be further empowering the existing autonomous hill councils of both Leh and Kargil districts,” said Nawang Rigzin Jora, a former minister of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state.
Jora who is now the present president of the Congress unit in Ladakh and also co-chairperson of Leh Apex Body - a conglomerate of various political, social, religious, trader and student bodies in Leh district - said that instead of working for the upliftment of the autonomous councils the government had in turn started to dilute the councils.
Their other demands included formation of a Public Service Commission and reservation of jobs for the youth of Ladakh, and the creation of two separate parliamentary constituencies for Leh and Kargil districts.
This has also been a significant event since it was the first time that all political, social and religious organisations of Leh and Kargil districts have joined hands to put up a front against the Centre to press their demands under the banners of the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA). The former is headed by former MP Thupstan Chewang and the latter by Asghar Karbalai and Ali Akhoon as co-chairpersons.
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