We used to curse Article 370 … But it protected us … now Ladakh opened up for entire India: Leh apex body co-chairman | Political Pulse News

This was totally spontaneous. When 4,000-5,000 people descend on the road for protests, I cannot deny there may be some rogue elements in it. But this is also the truth that this matter has been festering for the past six years. They were all unemployed youth. They are now called Gen Z. There may have been some criminal elements within, but mainly, it was educated, unemployed youth. If they were all lumpens, they would not have known the difference between a BJP flag and the national flag when the BJP office was attacked. They tore away the BJP flags but did not touch the Tricolour. They took out the photos of Ambedkar and our Lama ji and then set the building on fire.

Do you think they were inspired by what happened in Nepal?

Every hand has a mobile phone today. They are watching what is happening around the world. So, definitely, the Nepal revolution may have had an impact. But largely, these young men came from poor families. The young men who have been put behind bars for the protests come from poor families. Essentially, there is a problem of unemployment. People who have completed their education with great difficulty are not getting jobs. It has been six years now. Earlier (before 2019), youth would get absorbed in recruitment drives of the state. That has stopped now. Some people who have got jobs are on contract. These jobs are virtual slavery. They are humiliated and asked to work long hours. They comply because they know they can be fired at any time. This is how the administration is functioning here.

Can you elaborate on how the job scenario has changed after the formation of the Union Territory?

After the formation of UT, they created a Secretariat here, but did not create any posts. They started using council employees for Secretariat work. They say they have given five districts. But there is nothing on the ground. When you talk of five districts, we expect more Deputy Commissioners (DCs), SSPs, and heads of departments. But not an extra peon has been appointed. There are only two DCs, in Leh and Kargil. So all these districts are in the air.

Another problem is that earlier, the council had its own recruitment board. We used to recruit Class IV employees, district cadre employees, and even divisional cadre employees. They used to be 100% local. Since the UT administration has come here, the council recruitment board is shut. Recruitment happens through either post creation or through retirement. In the past six months, so many people have retired. But those posts have not been filled up.

Not one gazetted post has been filled up because the UT has no public service commission. There is no Ladakh cadre. Earlier, we were part of the J&K cadre. People from outside are reluctant to serve here. What has the government been doing for the past six years? You have sent a DGP, some commissioners, and secretaries, but what about the people who will work under them? They have not been recruited.

The contractual recruitment system is breeding corruption. The government, for example, gets teachers through a contractor. The contractor, in turn, does not pay the full remuneration to the teacher. The gap is distributed among officials and the contractor.

What is the status of councils after the formation of the UT?

The councils are virtually defunct. Council employees are working for the UT administration. Naturally, these employees now listen to the UT administration and not the Council. Employees listen to those whom they see can interfere with their transfer and posting. That authority is with the UT administration today. On paper, land is under the jurisdiction of the council. But until the council recommends allotment for a government building, no other recommendation is carried through by the DC office. No file comes out of there. So what you saw is the accumulated anger of the people.

So, you are saying that people are not happy with the UT administration.

There are many old laws here from the time of Maharaja Hari Singh. In Ladakh, there is something called Ailan number 38 that deals with the leasing of barren land for cultivation. It used to so happen that the cultivator eventually became the owner of the land. Now the UT administration has virtually made it illegal, saying people have made houses and hotels on such land. So, people are not getting building and hotel permission from the UT administration. It is a lot of harassment. There are two wildlife sanctuaries in Ladakh. Local people are allowed to take two kanals of land around these sanctuaries to build guest houses. But the rest of the land (outside the sanctuaries) is open for private investments. How will guest house owners compete with big hotels when they come here?

This is happening because people do not have their own government. They do not have representatives. We have no legislative powers.

But you always wanted a UT. Why protest now?

We never asked for only UT. We always wanted UT with a legislature. Srinagar was far, but Delhi is farther. Now, the funds that come from the Centre, only 10% of them go to the Council. If we have a UT with a legislature, then all the funds will come to the legislature. Now, the L-G (Lieutenant Governor), commissioners, and secretaries have become our rulers. We used to curse Article 370, because it was an obstacle in our way to becoming a UT. But it protected us for 70 years. Our land was totally safe. Even people from Jammu and Kashmir did not come here. But now Ladakh has been opened for the entire India. We have no safeguard. So many outsiders have now bought land here. A hotel chain has come up. It is snatching away livelihoods from locals.

They say we have built roads in Ladakh. But these are defence roads. When did they do the two-laning work? When China increased pressure on the border. Yes, they have done some development work in the border areas. But even the Manmohan Singh government developed the border regions.

Is the UT administration not sensitive to people’s needs?

You see, DC is one of the brightest officers. But no matter how bright you are, you can’t understand the Ladakh life in two years. They are also human. Most are here to somehow spend their two years in this posting and leave. If there is a good DC, he does not have enough time. Our working season is so short (because of a harsh winter) that even five years is not enough to make an impact.

What about Sonam Wangchuk’s opposition to the solar project here?

That was a very old proposal when I was a minister in the J&K government. It was a 5,000 MW project then. The land was to be given on rent. That would have generated revenue for the local government. It was also a small project, so we could have said you build here and not there. But the one that is coming up now is covering the entire area. It is a 15,000 GW project spread over thousands of acres. Its length is 45 km and is being built on the pastoral land of our Pashmina goats. Where will the nomadic herders go now?

Also, to run this project, you need 45,000 employees. The entire population of that area is only 15,000. So, 45,000 people will come from outside, they will need accommodation, water. That area is ecologically fragile. And it is not just about what Wangchuk has been saying. People here are very aware. They live with nature because resources are limited. They are trained to live with limited resources. You destroy this, you destroy our culture. They say this will generate employment. The nomads there are unlettered. What employment will they get? You are making a fool of us.

The government recently gave protection for jobs through a notification. Are you not satisfied with that?

We have been negotiating with the government for six years. And what have we got? In all these years, we could only achieve domicile-based reservation and even that is not 100%. Our main issue has not even been discussed yet. Will that take another six years? Our lives will be lost.

Why do you think the government is not accepting your demands?

It has to do with the BJP’s ideology. It roots for homogeneity. They want everything to be one and alike. They are not in favour of empowering people in pockets. The Sixth Schedule empowers local people. It protects village and local level laws, and protects age-old customs. When we were part of Jammu and Kashmir, though we did not have the Sixth Schedule but the Kashmir administration never interfered in our local affairs and traditional laws. Now there is. We have village heads who get a nominal remuneration from the government for administering village-level rituals. He runs the village and its functions, such as harvesting, weddings, and deaths, according to age-old customs and laws. But the UT administration is harassing them because they support the Apex Body, Leh. Now, many village heads have been fired, with the administration saying they are over 60 years of age. The J&K government never did this. It is the elderly who know the customs the best.