Tribune News Service

Jammu, August 13

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a “peaceful solution within the framework of the Constitution” to the Kashmir unrest, various religious groups of Ladakh today reiterated the demand for the Union Territory (UT) status to the region.

They warned that “any attempt at handling the Kashmir issue in isolation by ignoring the problems of Ladakh will be short-sighted and prove counterproductive”.

In a memorandum submitted to the Prime Minister through the Deputy Commissioner, Leh, the groups said, “The leaders of the Kashmir valley can never be the leaders of our people and our assimilation with the people of the Valley is next to impossible.”

“It is absolutely erroneous to equate the Kashmir valley with the rest of the state. Ladakh constitutes 69.6 per cent of the total J&K territory and has a distinct geo-political and geo-cultural identity. The aspirations of the people of Ladakh and their national outlook are different from those of the people of Kashmir,” the representatives of the groups said while talking to reporters in Leh today.

The leaders who attended the press briefing comprised Tsewang Thinles, president, Ladakh Buddhist Association, Ashraf Ali Barcha, president, Anjuman Imamia, Sheikh Saif Ud Din, president, Anjuman Moin Ul Islam, and David Sonam, president, Christian Community, Leh.

“We strongly feel that the UT with an elected legislature is the only instrument through which the present political ambivalence can be ended and by which we can achieve our aspirations,” they said.

They said the Ladakhi people had consistently been demanding separation from J&K and demanding the status of UT with legislature. “The Central government, however, never responded favourably to our sincere conviction. Instead it made us be governed by Kashmiris over the decades to our utter ruin,” they alleged.

They said the need of the hour was to tackle all problems relating to Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh in totality.