NEW DELHI: Ladakh-based activist Sonam Wangchuk on Saturday said the Leh Apex Body (LAB) would be compelled to launch a “very large-scale agitation” if the Union government fails to make “concrete” progress on the group’s key demands.“If stepmotherly treatment is meted out to Ladakh and the people living along the borders, then we will be compelled to launch a very large-scale agitation after September 9,” PTI quoted him as saying. He was referring to the date when an LAB sub-committee is scheduled to meet Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) officials in Delhi to press for its demands.Wangchuk further announced that the outfit’s proposed march from Kargil to Leh, scheduled to begin on September 10, had been postponed in view of the MHA talks. However, he warned the march would be revived if the talks fail to produce a “satisfactory” outcome.“We have collectively decided to postpone the ‘padyatra’ for the time being. We will once again appeal to people from across India to come forward in support of Ladakh, in support of the environment, and in support of the people of Ladakh who remain steadfast on the country’s borders,” he stated.He added that the LAB is observing September as “Martyrs’ Month” in memory of those killed, injured and jailed last year. The activist was referring to the violence in Leh, the Union territory’s capital, on September 24 last year, during which four civilians were killed, allegedly in police firing. Wangchuk himself was detained under the stringent National Security Act and released six months later, in March this year.
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Wangchuk, who emerged as the face of the recent student protests in Delhi and sat on a hunger strike for more than 20 days, also said the LAB expects the Centre to bring a detailed draft on the proposed Ladakh assembly, including its powers and rights, to the September 9 meeting.The outfit has been demanding legislation for Ladakh at the Union territory level, safeguards under Article 371, withdrawal of cases filed after the September 24 violence last year, compensation for victims and publication of the inquiry commission report. The LAB and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) have been jointly spearheading the agitation since Ladakh was granted Union territory status in August 2019 and have held several rounds of talks with the Centre since 2021.
