Ladakhis disillusioned, Centre must act beyond meetings: Jairam Ramesh

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on Friday that the people of Ladakh, once filled with expectations after the region was carved out as a Union Territory, are now facing deep “disappointment and disenchantment” owing to the Centre’s failure to address their legitimate aspirations.

In a detailed post on X, Ramesh noted that six years since the creation of the Union Territory, Ladakhis have seen their “land and employment rights under severe threat” and their local administration and elected bodies “taken over by the LG and the bureaucracy.”

He further stressed that despite repeated demands, the Centre has only held “meetings after meetings” on key issues such as protection under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution and the establishment of an elected legislature. “There has been no concrete outcome,” he said.

The Congress leader also pointed to the external dimension, highlighting the “great uncertainty caused by China’s unilateral abrogation of the status quo on the Line of Actual Control” and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “June 19, 2020 clean chit to China".

“Ladakh is of profound cultural, economic, ecological, and strategic importance to India,” Ramesh wrote, adding that its people “have, at all times, been proud Indians to their very core.” He urged the government to move beyond consultations and ensure Ladakhis’ “legitimate aspirations are fulfilled in full measure at the very earliest.”