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No statehood, Ladakh to get unique elected body, says government

How outlets told it

Neither statehood nor a legislature was being considered for Ladakh, The Hindu quoted the Union territory’s Chief Secretary Ashish Kundra as saying on Thursday. Instead the region will be offered a unique body with legislative, executive and financial powers, Kundra said.

The bureaucrat said that the nomenclature of the proposed body had not been finalised and that discussions were underway.

“An agreement has been reached with the [Ladakhi] leadership here, a sui generis model, which does not exist anywhere in the country, will be crafted for Ladakh, where a legislative body will be created,” he told The Hindu.

However, the civil society groups leading the agitation seeking statehood for Ladakh said on Thursday that they were disappointed because the negotiations had not moved forward.

Until 2019, Ladakh was part of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. In August 2019, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government abrogated the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution and bifurcated the state into two Union territories: Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

Unlike Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh was made a Union territory without a legislature, fuelling concerns among the Ladakhi people about their land, natural resources and livelihoods. They also fear that the region’s cultural identity and fragile ecosystem are in danger.

By 2022, the residents...