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World

Sonam Wangchuk accuses Centre of 'moving away' from Ladakh promises as Oct 22 talks fail to happen

Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk told a Delhi press conference that the Centre had abandoned its promises to Ladakh after an expected October 22 round of talks with the Home Ministry failed to materialise — and Ladakh's leaders have received no invitation.

By Sarah Whitfield · · 2 min read

Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk speaking into a microphone at a public event in 2017.
Photo: Sonam Wangchuk, via Wikimedia Commons

Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk accused the Centre on Thursday of backing out of its promises to Ladakh after a round of talks between the region’s leadership and the Union Home Ministry failed to take place on October 22.

At a press conference in Delhi, Wangchuk said Ladakh’s leaders had received no invitation for the meeting, though Home Ministry officials had indicated the talks would go ahead. “So I booked my tickets… but now it is being told that the talks are not being held,” he said in a video statement, describing the October 15 meeting in Leh as “a total failure” with “no result”.

Invoking pressure from China, Wangchuk said: “On one hand China is building pressure. They don’t even recognise Ladakh and (say) Ladakh is a part of China. But the country we love is not treating us well. They are moving away from every promise to the extent that they are not giving the people of Ladakh the same status as the rest of the people.”

He repeated the core demand: “nothing less than a Union Territory with a legislature and safeguards will be acceptable,” noting the leadership had already scaled down its demands at a May 22 meeting, accepting the Centre’s offer of constitutional safeguards for Ladakh’s identity, land and jobs.

The Ladakh UT administration said on Saturday that the Centre remained “fully committed to finding a political solution at the earliest”, alleging the leadership had “rubbished” its 32-page draft proposal within two hours of receiving it.

Sources

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