By Kavita Mistry 
Leh: In a press conference immediately after the funeral of 46-year-old ex-serviceman Tsewang Tharchin, the Leh Apex Body (LAB) said that they will not resume talks with the Centre unless peace is restored in Ladakh.
“Till the time peace isn’t back we will not resume talks. MHA and the UT administration should do something to make things right and make this place peaceful and breathable again,” LAB Chairman Thupstan Chhewang told the media Monday. The ex-MP said the region has struggled for 70 years and then finally when it was granted UT status after the revocation of Article 370, it was without a legislature.
“We were forced to protest. Our demands are to be included in the Sixth Schedule, statehood and youth issues like job reservation and the setting up of a Public Service Commission). We get one parliamentary seat but the region requires two. This caused differences between the areas and people here,” the chairman added. He also said that the CRPF had resorted to “gundagardi” and excessive force on 24 September, something that has never been witnessed before in Ladakh.
“The L-G in a press briefing had blamed us. They said that Nepalese and people from Doda were part of the protests. The DGP told the press that the protest had Pakistan influence and Sonam Wangchuk is an anti-national. We won’t tolerate this and we are hurt. If the government had held talks in time and fulfilled demands, this wouldn’t have happened. It worked like a pressure cooker,” Chering Dorjey, co-chairman of the Leh Apex Body and president of Ladakh Buddhist Association, said.
“We don’t support violence but this is on the government. They are trying to make a tool kit accusing us of being anti-national and alleging that there is some Pakistan conspiracy behind this. If this was happening here, then what were the government agencies doing? Why did you wait till 24 September? Wangchuk has been on a hunger strike, protesting for a while. This is all baseless and the government is trying to hide its own faults and failures. We demand a judicial enquiry into the firing by a retired SC judge. We have proof that firing took place without a magistrate’s order or warning,” he added.
Asked about the demands on the Sixth Schedule, Dorjey said, “We rejoiced when Article 370 was removed because without it we wouldn’t have got UT status. We have been seeking UT status with the legislature for 70 years. Article 370 was an obstacle to get it. But now they have been delaying talks.”
Dorjey also said that the government must revoke the “false cases” filed against members and leaders of the apex body and release them. He also demanded that Wangchuk be released.
“Ladakh has been so loyal to this country and this is what we get in return!” he said.
Four people, including the ex-serviceman, died in Leh on 24 September after protesters and security forces clashed.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
Also read: ‘Centre disrespected our patience, anger against BJP’—how smolder turned into blaze in Ladakh