Srinagar, Jan 8: In a significant development, the Union Home Ministry is set to convene a meeting of the high-powered committee it constituted to deliberate on issues of Ladakh.
In a letter, the MHA has informed Ladakh’s Chief Secretary that the next meeting of the high-powered committee-comprising representatives of the Union Home Ministry, the Ladakh administration, and leaders of Ladakh-will be convened in the last part of January.
The Chief Secretary of Ladakh has been asked to consult the members of the high-powered committee regarding their convenient dates and inform the MHA accordingly.
The MHA has decided to hold the meeting at a time when leaders of the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA)-the two conglomerates spearheading the agitation for statehood and constitutional safeguards for the region-have expressed resentment over the inordinate delay in convening the panel’s meeting.
Talks between Ladakh’s leadership and the Government of India were last held on October 22, 2025, in New Delhi.
The Leh Apex Body (LAB) and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) had submitted a 29-page draft proposal to the Ministry of Home Affairs, seeking statehood, Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh, and amnesty for people arrested after the September 24 protests.
Apart from four deaths, nearly 100 others including police and paramilitary personnel were injured on September 24 when protesters went on a rampage, vandalising buildings and setting a BJP office and a police vehicle on fire. The clashes erupted over demands for statehood and constitutional safeguards on the 15th day of a hunger strike led by activist Sonam Wangchuk, who has been booked under the NSA and lodged in Jodhpur jail. (KNO)