Srinagar, Sept 28(KNS): President of the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) and a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the Central Shalteng constituency, Tariq Hameed Karra on Sunday said that the current unrest in Ladakh is the result of unfulfilled promises made by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Government of India after the abrogation of Article 370.
Speaking at the party headquarters in Srinagar, Karra, as per Kashmir News Service (KNS), said the people now agitating in Ladakh were the same who had earlier supported the Centre’s move in 2019. “The people who are now against the Government of India and against the local administration are the same people who were used by the BJP and the Government of India to express their happiness about the abrogation of Article 370,” he said.
Karra referred to Sonam Wangchuk, saying his father had served as a deputy minister in the J&K government in the 1970s and he was expelled from the Congress in 1987 for anti-party activities. “Since then, he had no contact with Congress. he has six brothers and two sisters, and all of them have remained with the BJP to this day. One of his brothers is vice president of the BJP Leh unit,” he said.
According to Karra, the ongoing agitation reflects public anger over the BJP’s unfulfilled commitments. “This agitation is happening against the betrayal and unfulfillment of their commitments of the last five years,” he said.
He added that the demand for inclusion under the Sixth Schedule and separate parliamentary seats for Leh and Kargil had remained unaddressed despite repeated assurances.
He said the Congress does not endorse the incidents of violence in Ladakh but condemned the firing on protestors. “We condemn those people who were shot, small children, and the way they were shot directly in the chest and head. Along with those families, we express solidarity. We want the wounded to be treated as soon as possible,” he said.
Karra also said the government should have engaged in dialogue with the protesters rather than resorting to force. He warned that Ladakh’s location between Pakistan and China makes the situation more sensitive. “Instead of giving importance to national security, they are using their ego and their method of use and throw,” he said.
He said the protests in Ladakh were largely driven by youth anger over unemployment. “This was their frustration. This was the result of not engaging them that they came on the streets,” he said.
Karra said that unless the BJP changes its approach, similar situations could arise in other parts of the country.(KNS).
