Ladakh Protest:
Ladakh is completely shut down after huge protests from the people of LEH & KARGIL Districts under Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) demanding status under the Sixth Schedule and Statehood for Ladakh. The people demanded 4 agendas after Ladakh and Jammu became the union territories by canceling the special status under Article 370. We have covered the protests taking place in Ladakh.
ladakh Protest Demands:
The government canceled Article 370 on 5th August 2019 for Jammu and Kashmir and was divided into 2 union territories without legislature in Ladakh. However, the people of Ladakh along with Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) have been demanding the status under the 6th schedule and statehood since Ladakh became a territory.
In addition to this, they have demanded separate parliament seats for Leh and Kargil to elect and govern the territory which will be fulfilling their demands as per their protests. According to the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019 amendment it is read as 2 members in parliament and 1 seat in Rajya Sabha will be provided which is not approved till now and is the main reason for protests even in freezing temperatures.
What Is 6th Schedule:
The 6th schedule of the constitution gives tribal status to the territories along with job reservations for local and parliament seats. The representatives submitted memorandums for statehood and the 6th schedule under the constitution along with a draft of amendments related to the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019 for statehood.
The government has already formed a committee to address their concerns under Nityanand Rai (Minister of State for Home) and has been in contact with the representatives of Leh and Kargil. However, the judgment from the Supreme Court about restoring the statehood in Jammu and Kashmir highlighted that those provisions have not been extended to Ladakh still which raised the interest in public protests.
What’s The Importance Of 6th Scheduled:
The representatives stated that it is important to give the 6th schedule of the constitution for Ladakh as it has the majority of tribals with a culture similar to northeastern states like Mizoram, Tripura, Sikkim, etc., The demand for job reservation is to improve gadgets posts through Ladakh public service commission to tackle limited opportunities.
The 2 parliament seats will be from Leh and Kargil each and 1 Rajya Sabha seat under the Reorganisation Act 2019 of J&K. The last meeting with the committee and representatives was held in December and is expected for another meeting this month regarding the concerns of the public of Ladakh.
The representatives gained support from locals to shut down Ladakh along with people coming from the Chinese border and Nubra Valley to Leh to participate in protests. Even the former BJP member of Ladakh Thupstan Chhewang is also supporting the protests saying he would fight for the demands until his last breath.
Conclusion:
The committee led by Nityanand Rai has agreed to look into the demands of the representatives in Ladakh that provide a constitutional safeguard for union territories. However, the Supreme Court judgment concerned the public leading to the protest with demands even in freezing temperatures.
The date of the committee meeting is still not approved by representatives which is likely to happen this month. This is not the first time Ladakh has been shut down completely as there are times when Ladakh is shut down completely due to the high involvement of the government and fears of prohibited empowerment in Ladakh around the past 4 years.
The representatives said the protest will be continued until the provisions and demands are fulfilled. There is no official confirmation of the same whether the protests will take place continuously or not
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