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| Divisional status to Ladakh divides Congress | | Zora, Karbalai tread opposite paths | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Feb 11: The February 8 decision of the government to grant divisional status to Ladakh with its headquarters at Buddhist-majority Leh has not only created a sort of furore in the Kashmir Valley and parts of Jammu province adjoining Kashmir and the Shia-majority Kargil, but also vertically divided the Congress party in the trans-Himalayan Ladakh region.
All the people of Leh district, including Congress leaders like former Leader of the Congress Legislature Party Nawang Rigzin Jora, have welcomed the decision. Jora not just welcomed the decision but also urged the authorities to set up offices of all the directorates in the region, saying such a step was the need of the hour and necessary to cater to the needs of its people. So much so, he has written a letter to this effect to the J&K Governor, SP Malik.
Contrarily, the Congress leader from Kargil and former MLA Haji Asgar Ali Karbalai has opposed the decision of the government. In fact, he has joined hands with other leaders, including religious leaders, and opposed the decision. He has said: "The people of Kargil are united in support of the demand for rotation of headquarters in Kargil during summer and in Leh during winter. If our demand is not met, we will resign en-mass from the posts we are holding in the democratic institutions, whether it is chairman of the legislative council, councilors in the LAHDC or panchayat institutions. We will also go for general strike and pour on the roads in the entire district besides Jammu and Delhi till our genuine demand is met," Karbalai said.
The questions to be asked to Karbalai and others of his ilk are: Why this selective approach? Why do they want rotational Divisional Commissioner for Ladakh? Why don't they denounce the 71-year-old practice of selecting Chief Minister from Kashmir alone and that too from a particular religious community? Why don't they demand rotational chief minister? Why don't they agitate for a change that empowers the people of Jammu and Ladakh to have their own chief ministers?
Karbalai and similar others, including Mehbooba Mufti and Sajad Lone, do well to review their controversial and provocative stand. Their whole approach is lop-sided and biased. They should remember that things have changed and much water has flown down the rivers Indus and Tawi. |
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