Kargil Leaders Turn Down Territorial Council Proposal

Srinagar: Rejecting the proposal of a territorial or regional council for Ladakh, leadership in Kargil has urged the central government to resume dialogue over statehood and the Sixth Schedule.

Talks between the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), the two key groups spearheading the movement for statehood and the Sixth Schedule in the Ladakh union territory, have been stalled since the last meeting on February 4.

Despite the MHA’s promise of resuming the talks within a fortnight since then, there is no further action from the MHA, said KDA co-chairman Asgar Ali Karbalai. “We have been engaging in talks with the MHA in good faith since 2021, and we continue to do so,” he said.

According to Karbalai, the two Ladakh bodies will not give up on their core demands, including statehood and the Sixth Schedule, as they are non-negotiable. “We are not in favour of empowering territorial or regional council and reject the proposal outright. If the government of India brings any is any new proposal other than a council-based framework, Apex and KDA are ready to talk and discuss that,” he said alongside Ladakh Member of Parliament Haneefa Jan and KDA’s senior leader Sajad Kargili.

The development comes following the KDA’s maiden meeting with the newly appointed Ladakh Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena in the district. Referring to the meeting, Karbalai said that they conveyed to MHA through LG to resume dialogue immediately with KDA and the Apex Body if they are serious and sincere.

Ladakh, comprising the Kargil and Leh districts in the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir, was hived off as a separate union territory without a legislature after the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the state into two union territories. Despite being politically and ideologically divergent, the Buddhist and Muslim alliance has spearheaded a joint campaign for their demands in recent years.

Sajad Kargili too said they are not ready to accept the council-based framework and urged for meaningful dialogue on statehood and the Sixth Schedule. “They repeatedly urge us to refrain from shutdowns, protests, marches and hunger strikes, assuring us that a dialogue will take place. We too do not wish to disrupt normal life,” he said.

But, according to Kargili, they are forced to call for protests as the assurances are not being followed. “The past experience with the government has been unsatisfactory, as there was no meaningful dialogue. We want the centre to resume meaningful dialogue,” he added.

In September 2025, four people were killed in violence and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who was spearheading a hunger strike to press for the demands, was arrested under the National Security Act. He was released after six months from Jodhpur jail last month.