VOL News Desk/ In New Delhi, members of the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) and Apex Body Leh held a significant meeting on Wednesday with the Ministry of Home Affairs’ High-Powered Committee, chaired by Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai. This session, lasting approximately three hours, occurred over three months after the previous formal meeting on October 22, 2025, and focused on key political, constitutional, and public issues concerning Ladakh.

Ministry officials proposed constitutional safeguards under Article 371 of the Indian Constitution—which provides temporary, transitional, and special provisions currently applicable to 12 states, including Nagaland, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Sikkim, and Karnataka—along with strengthening the Ladakh Hill Councils. However, no progress was made on the delegation’s core demands for granting statehood to Ladakh and its inclusion in the Sixth Schedule.

Post-meeting, KDA co-chairman Haji Asghar Ali Karbalai expressed reservations, noting that while the delegation attended with positive expectations to gauge the ministry’s seriousness on Ladakh’s concerns, the outcomes were unsatisfactory. He highlighted discussions on a draft submitted in October 2025 advocating statehood and Sixth Schedule status, and raised the sensitive issue of detentions, demanding the immediate release of activists like Sonam Wangchuk and the withdrawal of cases against them, deeming them illegal.

Apex Body Leh co-chairman Chering Dorje Lakruk stated that although the results were not encouraging, he anticipates another meeting within 15-20 days for more serious consideration of Ladakh’s demands. The dialogue also covered challenges faced by educated youth, employment opportunities, identity preservation, and constitutional rights, emphasizing the need for priority resolution since Ladakh’s designation as a Union Territory.
The Leh delegation was represented by Chering Dorje Lakruk, while Kargil was led by Haji Asghar Ali Karbalai. Other attendees included Ladakh MP Mohammad Hanifa Jan and Chief Executive Councillor of Ladakh Hill Development Council Kargil, Dr. Mohammad Jaffer Akhoond.

The meeting suggests that the central government has sidelined Ladakh’s primary demands for statehood and Sixth Schedule inclusion. Sources noted that one delegation member opposed these demands and supported the current Union Territory framework. Notably, Ladakh was separated from Jammu and Kashmir and established as a Union Territory in 2019 following amendments to Article 370.