As the hunger strike by Ladakh activist Sonam Wangchuk entered the seventh day, over a hundred people from remote villages in the region bordering China joined the protest in Leh.
The Leh Apex Body (LAB), on whose behalf Mr. Wangchuk has been leading the protests, said that it has decided to keep the movement “apolitical” and members of the Congress party associated with the movement have been asked to step down.
Cherring Dorjay Lakruk, president of the powerful Ladakh Buddhist Association (LAB) and co-convenor of the LAB, said the protest will continue even if the Union Home Ministry resumed talks with the civil society grouping. He said the demands for constitutional safeguards such as inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution (tribal status) and Statehood would remain.
Ladakh activist Sonam Wangchuk starts 35-day hunger strike to press for Statehood, Sixth Schedule
Thupstan Chhewang, the former Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament who represented the LAB in talks with the Ministry but resigned in June citing “individual agendas and competing interests”, has decided to return to the grouping, Mr. Lakruk said.
