Leh Apex Body welcomes judicial probe but seeks inclusion of Ladakh representative on panel

The Leh Apex Body (LAB) on Saturday welcomed the Centre’s decision to conduct a judicial probe into the September 14 violence but demanded inclusion of a representative from Ladakh in the team.

The group criticised the Lt Governor-led administration for foiling the silent march earlier during the day and said “such actions can never prove fruitful or convince us to resume talks with the Centre”.

Also Read: Leh crackdown sparks outrage; Kargil march sends strong message to Centre

The Centre on Friday moved to address a key demand of the protesting Ladakh groups by announcing a judicial inquiry headed by a retired Supreme Court judge into the violent clashes of September 24 in Leh, which claimed the lives of four people, including a 1999 Kargil war veteran.

According to a notification issued by the Union Home Ministry, the judicial probe, to be headed by Justice BS Chauhan, a former judge of the Supreme Court, is mandated to investigate the circumstances leading to the serious law and order situation, the police action and the resultant unfortunate deaths of four people.

Retired district and sessions judge Mohan Singh Parihar will function as judicial secretary, while IAS officer Tushar Anand will be the administrative secretary of the inquiry commission.

“We welcome the MHA’s notification for a judicial inquiry. But we saw some shortcomings — like the reference to FIR No. 144. It looks as though the inquiry is directed against our boys, and secondly, none of the three is from Ladakh. We want this inquiry to be completely transparent and no attempt should be made to hide anything. We want someone from Ladakh to be made part of the team,” LAB Co-chairman and Ladakh Buddhist Association chief Chering Dorje Lakruk told reporters here.

He replied in affirmative when asked whether he would like MHA to change the composition of the team and said “it is necessary to include a Ladakhi in the team so that the people have confidence in this commission.”

He said the restrictions placed on the people to scuttle the silent march were “very sad thing for all of us” and “we consider such measures as undemocratic and unlawful”.

“This shows that the administration is very scared. And I think that when the administration is scared of its own people, there must be something wrong…we could only manage a symbolic march without participation of the people,” Lakruk said.

He said they have given full assurance to the administration that the march will be peaceful.

“Peaceful agitation is the constitutional right of the people. Given the prevailing situation, will Ladakhi’s be deprived of it forever?” he said.

He said if the administration thinks that by threatening people, it will end the movement of the people of Ladakh for statehood and safeguards under the sixth schedule, they are mistaken.

“Neither the people of Ladakh nor their leaders will be scared. We will not come under any pressure to talk,” he said, adding they are ready for dialogue with the Central Government but the talks should be held in an open environment as no talks are possible under pressure.

By imposing curbs, he said the administration is trying to say that “we are playing in the hands of some external powers and that the situation here is not good. This seems to defame the people of Ladakh which should not have happened. The government is going down the wrong path.”          Asked about the claim that he was placed under house arrest to stop him from leading the protest march, the LAB leader said a barricade was set up outside his house on one side and heavy deployment of police on the other side this morning.

“I got a call from the DGP that I should not go out. I asked him whether I had been house arrested. He did not say anything. I told people that I am not allowed to go out. After two hours, a police officer came to me and said that there is no such thing as house arrest and accordingly, I came out of the house,” he said.

Meanwhile, a blackout was observed across Ladakh from 6 pm with most of the residents switching off their lights in response to the call given by LAB and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) as part of their protest programme this evening.