New Delhi: An agitation of people in Ladakh reached Delhi Wednesday amidst the ‘Chalo Delhi’ call by Ladakhi outfits demanding statehood and Sixth Schedule for the Union Territory (UT).
Though the agitation began in 2021, the voices behind it gained traction post the nullification of Article 370 and bifurcation of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories. Ladakhi engineer and environmentalist Sonam Wankchuk’s five-day ‘climate fast’ brought the issue to national attention.
Amidst all these developments, Brig. B. D. Mishra (retd.), the former governor of Arunachal Pradesh, took over the reins from R. K. Mathur who was appointed the first Lt. Governor (L-G) of Ladakh in October 2019.
The failure to control the agitation is believed to be a major reason for the change of guard. The general sentiment is different now than what it was back in 2019 when the J&K bifurcation was widely celebrated in Leh district.
Buddhist-majority Leh and Muslim-dominated Kargil have joined hands to raise four demands — statehood, constitutional safeguards under the Sixth Schedule, separate Lok Sabha seats for Leh and Kargil districts, and job reservation.
As Mishra settles in his new role in the strategically important Union Territory amidst challenges from China, his administration faces a host of issues internally.
Siddiq Wahid, a former vice-chancellor of Islamic University of Science and Technology, believes that change of the guards is “feeding uncertainty” to Ladakh.
“I see this change as an indicator of the fact that it is feeding uncertainty into an area such as Ladakh. It is like the worst option, given both external as well as internal situations. I think it presents an internal as well as an external problem,” Wahid, a native of Ladakh, told ThePrint. “It also shows utter failure of the government’s intent when it bifurcated J&K because I don’t think it is meeting its goals in Ladakh.”
Also Read: ‘Fasted so our voices reach PM Modi’ — Sonam Wangchuk on Ladakh’s climate woe, Schedule-6 demand
Gap between civil bodies & L-G
Lately, the gaps between the L-G administration and the agitating bodies led by umbrella outfits, the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), have come out in the open.
The section of Ladakh on agitation believes that the Centre’s move will not cool down the agitation. “We think that the L-G change has not resulted in any change fundamentally. We wanted change in the system. That won’t affect us much,” Chering Dorjay, a former J&K state minister, told ThePrint.
In an interview with ThePrint, days before Mathur was removed, Sonam Wankchuk had also criticised the L-G.
“The government has given so many funds — Rs 6,000 crore. The UT administration doesn’t know how to spend it. 60 per cent (of funds) are going back. 8 per cent funds go to the hill council and 92 per cent funds are with one person: ‘L-G sahab’. He is confused if he should do one thing or the other. Projects are taken up with no substance,” he said. “The L-G, bureaucrats come for two-three years and by the time they understand the place, it’s time to leave. They don’t know how to spend the budget.”
Dorjay feels that there would be no discernible change under the new UT head. “…in Leh, there was an ice hockey tournament. L-G was present on the final day for prize distribution. People raised slogans of the Sixth Schedule. They were picked up by police and thrashed. He used to do these types of things. But I think the new L-G will also do it. They will do things that they are told from the top,” he told ThePrint, adding that the L-G had “no touch with ground reality”.
While appreciating the role of hill councils, he said the UT administration had not launched any major project in the last three years.
Elected bodies vs L-G
Leh and Kargil have separate Hill Development Councils, which are the highest elected bodies in the UT. Enjoying popular support in Ladakh, the hill council in Leh was formed in 1995 and eight years later in Kargil.
Before Ladakh became a UT, hill councils and panchayats took decisions related to economic development, healthcare, education, land use, taxation and local governance.
After the revocation of Article 370, the hill councils were at odds with the administration on multiple occasions. While there were no new rules defining their jurisdiction, they hold fewer meaningful powers owing to the L-G’s overriding authority.
Last year, the councillors of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC)-Leh boycotted the Republic Day function, alleging they were denied entry to the venue from the VIP gate in a bid to “undermine” elected representatives.
Many of those councillors alleged that “bureaucracy is ruling” in Ladakh. “Ever since Ladakh was turned into a UT, the bureaucracy is ruling. They (bureaucrats) are interfering in everything. The voice of the elected representatives has been stifled. It has become a cry in the wilderness,” Nasir Hussain Munshi, a councillor from LAHDC-Kargil, had said.
Siddiq Wahid, too, told ThePrint that the influence of the hill councils had waned. “Role of the Hill Council has been reduced to actually being a nominal role. Whereas until August 2019, they actually had a high degree of autonomy.”
However, LADH-Leh chief executive Tashi Gyalson said the hill council welcomed the new L-G and hoped to work in coordination with him.
“Council is a politically elected representative. It is very close to the hearts of people, and works at grassroot-level. Hill councils are one of the oldest institutions. All the councilors get their plans after thorough consultation with people. We focus on schemes which are in people’s interest,” Tashi told ThePrint.
“We have welcomed the L-G. We worked in good coordination with the UT administration earlier. Our mandate is to work with the UT administration and lay a strong foundation stone for UT. With the new L-G, we will support him to make UT strong.”
In 2020, the Centre faced a crisis when the People’s Movement for Sixth Schedule for Ladakh led by former BJP MP Thupstan Chhewang decided to boycott the hill council elections. The boycott was withdrawn only after Union Home Minister Amit Shah met top leaders of the People’s Movement.
The ongoing agitation has a clear four-point agenda, with job reservation being one of them. One of the main issues raised by the agitators is of few recruitments in the last three years.
“He (Mathur) was a good person but there was no recruitment. There was no policy established. The UT has been directionless ever since its creation,” KDA member Sajjad Kargili told ThePrint.
“Our former L-G had already shown an inclination to leave. Change in L-G won’t affect us. We want policies to change. How will changing faces help? Government’s cold response needs to change. There needs a democratic environment. People are suffering.”
Even Wangchuk spoke about the crisis to ThePrint earlier this month. “The youth are worried that there are no jobs. The government promised to provide 12,000 jobs, but hardly 400-500 jobs have been created, and that too at a low level,” he said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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