After Ladakh polls announcement, Sonam Wangchuk warns of agitation: ‘Elections forced on us’

Appealing to the people of the country, the President of India as well as the top political leadership of the country to “pay attention to Ladakh”, activist Sonam Wangchuk, who is also part of the Leh Apex Body, warned of an intensified struggle in Ladakh over the coming days.

“However, before things take that turn, we wanted to appeal to the people (of the country) to stand with us and help us find a way to address this situation,” Wangchuk said.

In a video message, the leadership of the Kargil Democratic Alliance and the ABL, the two groups spearheading the movement for greater democratic representation in Ladakh, jointly urged the Centre to reconsider the decision to conduct elections in one of the coldest months of the year.

The groups have been protesting the decision on the ground that several residents leave the UT during the cold winter months.

On Tuesday, Ladakh Chief Secretary Ashish Kundra had announced fresh elections to all eight LAHDCs in Ladakh, which will take place on December 4. For the first time, eight elected hill councils will take shape in Ladakh with the addition of six new districts to the Union Territory this year.

Ladakh MP Mohmad Haneefa Jan had also written to Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, raising concerns over conducting elections in Ladakh in the harsh winter. On Wednesday, the MP was part of the group, alongside the leadership of the KDA and ABL, that reiterated these concerns.

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“I had met with the LG before the election was even notified. They were preparing to announce elections for December, but I had advised [them] that elections should be held in March or April since a large part of our population migrates away from Ladakh in the winter and so that every citizen can exercise their right to vote. Holding this election in December will deprive a lot of people of voting,” Haneefa said.

He also underlined that holding elections in December, when the temperature dips several degrees below zero, will be an inconvenience to the public and a challenge for the administration as well.

Kundra had argued that with elections conducted in December, the incoming hill councils will have three months to prepare budgets that can be executed next year.

Meanwhile, the Ladakh leadership has also raised concerns over the delay in releasing the report following the judicial inquiry into the violence of September 24 last year. Four people were killed in police firing after a protest demonstration turned violent in Leh.

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“While the Judicial Inquiry Commission report on the September 24th incidents in Leh moves at snail’s pace, even after a year of the incidents and the talks on restoration of democracy have broken down, the UT administration is moving at rocket speed to conduct some kind of ‘Council Elections’ here, apparently to have people of their choice installed to negotiate on democracy and safeguards here,” Wanghuk said.

KDA co-chairman Sajad Kargili added to these concerns, stating that at the moment “it seems like the administration’s priority is not to resolve the concerns of the people because nearly all of Ladakh is expressing its resentment and there are protests now and then. Ignoring all of this, the administration is engaged in PR exercises for itself. I want to tell them — you are not just stealing votes but [also] our representation and you do not have this right.”

In the video, the leadership of Leh and Kargil urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi to “please intervene before we are forced to start peaceful but intense agitations to demonstrate our pain”.