Can’t trust China, won’t allow anyone to trade off even inch of Ladakh: Jora

The 57-year-old Nawang Rigzin Jora, leader of the Congress Legislature Party in J&K and MLA from the Leh Assembly segment, is one of the tallest Buddhist leaders in Ladakh. Born in Leh, Jora is an alumnus of St Stephen’s College, Delhi. He won the Leh seat for the third time in a row in the 2014 elections despite a strong Modi wave.

Jora is the founder member of the Ladakh Union Territory Front (LUTF) which was formed with the sole objective of fighting for the Union Territory status to Ladakh. After an agreement reached out between the Centre and the Ladakh Buddhist Association in 1995, a separate administrative unit — Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Leh — was created and he became one of the four Executive Councillors of the Council.

He also remained the Cabinet minister in the PDP-Congress coalition government from 2002 to 2008 and the National Conference-Congress government from 2009 to 2014.

In a formal interaction with Arteev Sharma in Jammu, Jora spoke on varied issues such as the development scenario in Ladakh, demand of people for Union Territory, upcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to China and the growing danger of Chinese incursions in the cold desert of the country.

Here are a few excerpts:

‘PM mustn’t barter Ladakh land with China’

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to China next week, Jora cautioned him that he should not barter away even an inch of land of Ladakh with China for his ambitious plan of large investment in India. “We, people of Ladakh, will not allow any trade off of our borders in the name of trade and investment,” he said.

He, however, hoped that the Prime Minister would take the issue of opening Kailash Mansarovar yatra route via Ladakh with his counterparts.

‘Can’t ignore LAC incursions’

On the Chinese threat to the strategically important region and its frequent incursions, Jora said, “The threat is always there and we would be living in a fool’s paradise if we turned a blind eye to it and trust them blindly. You can’t trust them”.

He reminded about the Chinese incursion in the Chusul area at a time when the Prime Minister was sharing a swing with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Ahmedabad in September last year.

He said the Congress-led UPA II had planned that the entire 4,057-km-long Line of Actual Control from Arunachal to Ladakh should be manned by the 17 Mountain Strike Corps to counter Chinese threats, but the proposal was given short shrift by the Modi-led BJP government.

“We had approved the Mountain Strike Corps and the Cabinet Committee on Security had approved the proposal for Rs 64,000 crore, which was subsequently revised to Rs 88,000 crore and 70,000 soldiers. However, the BJP government has planned to cut the cost to Rs 38,000 crore and the troop strength to 35,000 men,” he said.

He, however, admitted that incursions or transgressions were bound to happen in a vast mountainous and undulating terrain of Ladakh where the LAC has not been delineated between India and China.

‘UT status can come only after Kashmir solution’

The Congress leader said the demand for Ladakh as UT and Article 370 cannot go together. “At the same time, I don’t want that Ladakh be treated on the pattern of Manali in Himachal Pradesh where investors from Delhi and Mumbai have come and established their businesses. Local inhabitants of HP have been left with jobs of waiter, gatekeeper…. I don’t want to see this happening in Ladakh. Therefore, I support Article 370. The Union Territory status can be achieved only if there is a radical solution to the Kashmir issue. When there is a permanent solution to the Kashmir issue, there are chances of Ladakh getting UT status.

‘Very few in Kargil support UT demand’

“There are very few in Kargil who support Ladakh’s demand for UT status. People in Kargil have their own apprehensions but the people in Ladakh overwhelmingly support the demand for UT. This demand has been politically exploited,” Jora said.

“We don’t want UT on the pattern of Chandigarh but it should on the lines of Puducherry, whose elected Assembly is accountable to the people. The BJP has befooled the people of Ladakh by promising them UT status. What happened to their promise?”

‘Where are “acche din”?’

Given the composition of society or communities in Ladakh, Jora said, the PDP must lie low in the region. At the same time, the BJP, in the larger interest of the national security, must be more subtle and accountable. “I know in politics now what matters is the numbers but we can’t afford exploitation of emotions in sensitive areas of Kargil and Leh to garner votes.”

Jora also seized the opportunity to take a dig at the BJP government, saying: “The BJP had promised UT status to Ladakh, opening of Kailash Mansarovar Yatra route via Ladakh and inclusion of Bhoti language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution… all within first six months of its rule.”

“It’s almost a year. Where are the ‘acche din’ (good days),” he mocked.

‘Leh, Kargil doing well development-wise’

Leh and Kargil districts where massive development activity is being undertaken by the LAHDC has done exceedingly well on account of development. In Leh district alone, development works worth Rs 1,500 crore are being undertaken. To a large extent, this is also true for Kargil district, Jora said. “Barring a few villages, we have complete connectivity with all villages in Leh district.”

“Look at other districts, except for Jammu and Srinagar, I don’t think development activities involving projects worth Rs 1,500 would be in progress there.”

‘Our children making it to IITs, IIMs, AIIMS’

“We have told children that they have limited resources and facilities but they should work hard and pursue education vigorously to achieve new heights in education. Today, our children have been able to excel in IIT, IIM, AIIMS and other professional courses, Jora said.

(With inputs from Ravi Krishnan Khajuria, Dinesh Manhotra and Amir Karim Tantray).