Arteev Sharma
Jammu: Barely two days after the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) announced a two-week-long “Peace and Justice” Padyatra from Kargil to Leh, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) today decided to hold the next meeting of the sub-committee constituted in New Delhi on September 9 to deliberate on issues concerning the Union Territory of Ladakh.
“Ministry of Home Affairs has fixed an official meeting of the sub-committee on 9th September in Delhi. This is part of the ongoing dialogue for deepening democratic processes in Ladakh,” Chief Secretary Ladakh Ashish Kundra said in a post on X.
Sources said the KDA is unlikely to defer its agitation over the MHA’s decision to convene another sub-committee meeting instead of the much-anticipated meeting of the High Powered Committee (HPC) headed by Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai.
An indication in this regard was made by the senior KDA leader Sajjad Kargili who has already made a fervent appeal to the people of Ladakh to join the “peace and justice” march.
In a video message posted on X, Kargili urged people to join the “Kargil-Leh Peace & Justice March” from September 10 to 24 to press for full statehood and Sixth Schedule protection for Ladakh, besides justice for the victims of the September 24, 2025 violence.
Meanwhile, the Leh Apex Body (LAB) has convened a meeting of its senior members to deliberate on the MHA’s decision and chalk out its response.
“We have called a meeting of all our senior members to discuss the MHA’s announcement and devise a further strategy. We were expecting a meeting of the High Powered Committee (HPC) headed by MoS Home Nityanand Rai, but the MHA has called the meeting of the sub-committee, which relatively holds little or no meaning given the previous round of discussions,” a senior LAB leader said.
The leader said the LAB would also hold a joint meeting with the KDA to formulate the next course of action.
On September 1, KDA announced a peaceful ‘Padyatra’ from Kargil to Leh from September 11 to September 24 to mount pressure on the MHA for early resolution of the region’s four-point agenda, including statehood and inclusion under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution and justice for the victim of the last year’s violence on September 24.
The upcoming meeting of the MHA sub-committee comes against the backdrop of two informal rounds of discussions between representatives of Ladakh and the Home Ministry on July 2-3 and August 19.
During the July meeting, the leaders of the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and KDA, and the MHA had reached an in-principle agreement to establish a customized elected Union Territory-level body with executive, financial and legislative powers for Ladakh.
The consensus followed detailed deliberations between the two sides, with representatives signing the minutes of the previous meeting of the MHA-constituted sub-committee held on May 22.
On August 19, two sides had failed to make any major breakthrough over the implementation of the in-principle agreement for establishing a customised sui generis governance model for Ladakh under Article 371. The MHA officials had assured for fresh talks in September.
Among the key demands, the LAB and KDA have sought a governance structure with an elected Ladakh Legislative Assembly, headed by a Chief Minister and a Council of Ministers, with members elected from constituencies demarcated through a constitutionally recognised delimitation mechanism.
According to the joint memorandum of two bodies, the proposed framework should provide the elected legislature with powers based substantially on Lists II and III of the Seventh Schedule under Article 246 of the Constitution, along with provisions of the Union Territories Act, 1963 wherever required.
The leaders have also demanded that the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh function on the aid and advice of the elected Assembly and government to prevent conflicts between the elected representatives and the UT administration.
The leaders have further suggested that the elected Ladakh Legislative Assembly must have “meaningful and constitutionally protected control” over taxation, Budget, appropriation, expenditure, borrowing and public funds, including a constitutionally protected Consolidated Fund and Contingency Fund.
For the constitutionally empowered elected legislature, they have suggested that the UT-level elected Legislature must be directly elected, constitutionally empowered and provided with separately constituted and properly delimited Assembly constituencies through a constitutionally recognized delimitation mechanism.
As far as Home, public order and police areas are concerned, the leaders have suggested, “Home Affair must be placed substantially under the democratic control of the elected Government and Ladakh Legislative Assembly, drawing upon the constitutional principles reflected in Articles 162, 163 and 166(3) and the extension of the List II of the Seventh Schedule for Ladakh, with arrangements applicable to UT of Puducheny and the erstwhile UT of Mizoram serving as relevant constitutional reference points.
Pertinently, the MHA and the leaders from Ladakh on July 3 had reached an in-principle agreement on restoring democracy in Ladakh and providing Constitutional safeguards on the lines of Article 371 A, F, and G (as applied to Nagaland, Sikkim and Mizoram) in May 22 meeting in New Delhi. The consensus reached after extensive deliberations between the two sides, wherein they signed the minutes of the previous meeting of the MHA-constituted sub-committee held on May 22.
