Centre's offer of constitutional safeguards for Ladakh 'slap' on J-K leadership's face: Srinagar MP

Lok Sabha MP Ruhullah Mehdi on Saturday said the Centre's offer of constitutional safeguards for Ladakh is a ''slap'' on the face of the leadership of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar said if the leadership in Ladakh can unitedly fight the Centre and safeguard their rights, ''then there is no justification for the leadership here (in J-K)''.

''I will use these words that it is a slap on the face of the leadership of Jammu and Kashmir,'' Mehdi told reporters here when asked about the developments in Ladakh.

''This is the fight I have been saying that we have to fight, our leadership is not fighting it and the people of Ladakh have shown the way,'' he added.

The Centre has made an offer for constitutional safeguards under Article 371, instead of the Sixth Schedule, and a legislative body for Ladakh, activists from the region said on Saturday, while stressing that discussions were still underway and no final agreement had been reached.

Talking to PTI a day after their meeting with a sub-committee of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), activist Sonam Wangchuk said the government had proposed safeguards for Ladakh on the lines of Articles 371A and 371G and agreed in principle to a governance structure for the entire region rather than limiting powers to district councils.

Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) member Sajjad Kargili told PTI that the Centre had also proposed legislative, executive, administrative and financial powers for Ladakh and had been asked to share a formal draft for consultations with legal and constitutional experts.

The meeting between representatives of the Leh Apex Body (LAB), KDA and the MHA sub-committee on Friday focused on constitutional protection for Ladakh, democratic representation and the long-pending demand for statehood.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)