Ladakh admn, apex body to hold meet today, first since Leh unrest

A fortnight after violence broke out in Leh town, leaving four people dead and nearly 100 injured in security forces’ firing, the Ladakh administration is set to hold the first confidence-building measure (CBM) meeting with the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and local political parties on Thursday in Leh.

The LAB is one of the two groups spearheading the ongoing movement for statehood and constitutional safeguards for Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule.

According to the Apex Body, the meeting will be chaired by the Chief Secretary (CS) as the LAB has “refused to hold any meeting” with Ladakh Lieutenant Governor Kavinder Gupta following his remarks which have “hurt the feelings” of the people.

On Wednesday, LAB co-chairman Cherring Dorjay Lakruk said, “We had conveyed that we won’t hold any meeting with the L-G as locals are upset over his comments linking the protests to foreign involvement.” Lakruk said theLAB had also raised with the UT administration the issue of “harassment” of nambardars (village heads) who were questioned by the UT police. The nambardars had informed locals about the LAB-led hunger strike held from September 10 to 24.

“They were harassed by the police during the ongoing investigation. The police were forcing them to accept that the protests had Chinese and Pakistani funding. We have taken up this matter with the administration. This is unacceptable,” he said.

According to Lakruk, the CBM initiative aims to help normalise the situation.

“But our demand is that police should stop harassment, mobile internet should be restored… these are the steps which will help in normalising the situation,” he said.

Meanwhile, L-G Gupta chaired a high-level meeting to review the prevailing situation in the UT. He “directed the authorities concerned to gradually lift the remaining restrictions at the earliest and ensure that all normal activities are resumed at the earliest.”