Wangchuk says MHA talks offered little beyond earlier rounds

Srinagar, Sept 10 (UNI) A day after the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) held talks with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) sub-committee in New Delhi, disappointment has surfaced among Ladakh's leadership, with climate activist and LAB member Sonam Wangchuk saying the meeting yielded little beyond what had already been discussed in previous rounds.

In a post on X, Wangchuk said the September 9 meeting offered "hardly anything new" compared to the previous meeting held four months ago. "Leaders of the Apex Body of the Leh & Kargil Democratic Alliance are rather disappointed by the Sub-Committee-level meeting in New Delhi on 9th Sept. There was hardly anything new beyond the last meeting four months ago... "No draft prepared by MHA to discuss, no response on the list of non-negotiables Ladakh had sent a month ago, not even an assurance of not doing any major irreversible restructuring of local governance, land transfer policies, etc. before a legitimate democratic Assembly is in place..." Wangchuk said. He said the "only major outcome" of the meeting was fixing the date for the next round of talks in October.

"This is why we're reminded of famous comedian Jaspal Bhatti's meetings today," he said, expressing frustration over what he described as the lack of substantive outcomes. Wangchuk also questioned the timing of the meeting, saying it appeared to be an attempt to divert attention from the proposed Leh-to-Kargil padyatra that was scheduled to begin on September 10. "As we had guessed, this meeting on 9th Sept seems to be just a red herring to distract Ladakh from the massive Leh to Kargil Padyatra march that was to start from 10th Sept," he said.

"Trust is diminishing; distrust is growing, unfortunately," Wangchuk said, tagging Prime Minister Narendra Modi and union Home Minister Amit Shah. Wangchuk, 59, was arrested in September and later charged with the National Security Act (NSA), following protests that left four people dead and dozens wounded. He was released in March after the union home ministry (MHA) revoked his detention. After the Wednesday meeting, Ladakh chief secretary Ashish Kundra wrote on X about the "general air of positivity" at the Delhi meeting. "The broad contours of a sui generis model of governance under Article 371 were discussed. Deepening democracy is the goal," he said.