SRINAGAR: Prominent leaders of Ladakh have accused the Central government of being non-serious towards the issues and the concerns faced by the people of the desert region.
The Leh based Apex body comprising of People’s Movement for the Sixth Schedule and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) have jointly called for a general strike next month, on December 6, which will be followed by public rallies and mass contact programmes in the twin districts of the Muslim majority region in March.
The prominent leaders will start a mass agitation to press for their demands, which includes full statehood and constitutional safeguards for the people of the region.
The announcement came at a joint press conference after the third round of talks between the two bodies. The chairman of the Apex body and former MP Thupstan Chhewang and Co-chairman of the KDA, Asgar Ali Karbalai, made the announcement. They revealed that they would step up their agitation to put pressure on the Central government to meet their demands.
The demands also include one more Lok Sabha Seat and two seats in the Upper House in addition to conducting a recruitment drive for the local youth to fill over 10,000 vacancies in the region, the reports said.
The Apex body and the KDA are two separate bodies, with the latter being an amalgam of the socio-political and religious organizations.
Both the districts have been seeking protection to their distinct culture, identity, land, jobs and other things after the region was separated from Jammu and Kashmir.
