A day after curbs were imposed in Leh and the silent march by LAB thwarted by the district administration, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is said to have extended new invitation to representatives of Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) for fresh round of talks in New Delhi on October 22.
This is being seen as a significant development amid prevalent tension in Ladakh arisen after the September 24 violence. MHA has invited the Sub Committee of Ladakh leadership for meeting in New Delhi and the meeting has been scheduled in North Block, sources confirmed. Pertinently, both LAB and KDA have now expressed willingness to engage in talks with the Centre in order to resolve unsettled issues, even as they pulled out of initially started negotiations.
The invitation has been sent to all members of the Sub Committee besides other stakeholders.The meeting will be chaired by Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai and will be attended by top officials of the Union Home Ministry including Home Secretary Govind Mohan and Joint Secretary Incharge Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.
Apex Body Leh Co-chairman Chering Dorjey confirmed that they have received the communication about the sub committee meeting with MHA in New Delhi after Diwali, adding that most likely the meeting will be held on October 22. He said that they will attend the meeting and are hopeful that the talks will be result oriented than time consuming. Earlier, the MHA had called the Ladakh leadership for talks on October 6, however both the ABL and KDA pulled out of the talks and didn’t attend the meeting following the Sep 24 incident which left four civilians dead.
The Sub Committee members who will join the meeting include Thupstan Chhewang, Chering Dorjay Lakruk and Nawang Rigzin Jora (LAB); and Qamar Ali Akhoon, Asgar Ali Karbalai and Sajjad Kargili (KDA).Lok Sabha member from Ladakh Haneefa Jan, Chairpersons-cum-CECs of Hill Councils for Leh and Kargil and Chief Secretary of Ladakh Pawan Kotwal are also likely to attend the meeting.
Notably, Four point-agenda of LAB and KDA on which they have been agitating for quite a long time include Statehood, Sixth Schedule status, dedicated Public Services Commission (PSC) and two Parliamentary seats for Ladakh. Now the Ladakh leaders are demanding compensation to those families who lost their ones in Sep 24 in Leh and release of all detainees including climate activist Sonam Wangchuk.
Follow us
