{"id":55180,"date":"2025-09-25T21:11:29","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T15:41:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=55180"},"modified":"2025-09-27T12:16:34","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T06:46:34","slug":"ladakh-statehood-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/25-09-2025\/ladakh-statehood-protests","title":{"rendered":"Ladakh Statehood Protests"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/Governance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Violent youth protests in Ladakh demanding <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/11-08-2025\/ladakh-statehood-sixth-schedule-demand\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/11-08-2025\/ladakh-statehood-sixth-schedule-demand\">statehood and Sixth Schedule<\/a> <\/strong>status have led to four deaths and over 30 injuries.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Background: From UT Status to Unrest<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>August 2019<\/strong>: Ladakh was separated from Jammu &amp; Kashmir and made a Union Territory without a legislature, unlike Jammu &amp; Kashmir.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Initially, many Ladakhis welcomed the move, hoping for better governance and development.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>However, the absence of legislative power and fears of demographic change soon led to disillusionment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>Leh Apex Body (LAB)<\/strong> and <strong>Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA)<\/strong> emerged as key voices, representing <strong>both Buddhist and Muslim communities across Leh and Kargil.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Reasons for the Protests<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Lack of Legislative Power:<\/strong> Ladakhis lost representation in the J&amp;K Assembly and Legislative Council.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <strong>Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (LAHDCs)<\/strong> have limited authority, mostly restricted to spending development funds.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fear of Demographic and Cultural Erosion:<\/strong> Locals worry that opening Ladakh to outside investment could alter its <strong>fragile ecology and cultural identity.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Large-scale <strong>solar and industrial projects<\/strong> are being planned without local consent, raising concerns about <strong>land rights and displacement.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Employment and Land Rights:<\/strong> There is growing demand for a <strong>Ladakh Resident Certificate <\/strong>to protect local jobs and land ownership \u2014 similar to protections once offered <strong>under Article 35A.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Core Demands<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"e1dfdc\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"490\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Ladakh-Statehood-Protests-1024x490.webp\" alt=\"ladakh statehood protests\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-55183\" style=\"--dominant-color: #e1dfdc; width:497px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Ladakh-Statehood-Protests-1024x490.webp 1024w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Ladakh-Statehood-Protests-300x144.webp 300w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Ladakh-Statehood-Protests-768x368.webp 768w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Ladakh-Statehood-Protests-1536x735.webp 1536w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Ladakh-Statehood-Protests.webp 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Government Response &amp; Measures<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Dialogue and High-Powered Committees: <\/strong>The Union Home Ministry (MHA) set up a <strong>High-Powered Committee (HPC)<\/strong> to engage with protest leaders from the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA). The committee\u2019s mandate includes:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Exploring constitutional safeguards for Ladakh;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Strengthening the LAHDCs of Leh and Kargil;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ensuring protection of land, employment, and cultural identity;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Facilitating inclusive development and fast-track recruitment;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST),<\/strong> in its 119th meeting, recommended that <strong>Ladakh be brought under the Sixth Schedule<\/strong>.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Ladakh has <strong>over 97% of its population belonging to Scheduled Tribes<\/strong> and the need to preserve its agrarian and cultural rights.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Reservation in Government Jobs: <\/strong>85% reservation for resident Ladakhis in government employment;\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Of this, 80% reserved for STs;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Additional Quotas:<\/strong> 4% for residents along the LAC and LoC;\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>1% for SCs; and 10% for EWS;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Total reservation reaches 95%, among the highest in India.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Regulatory Amendments:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Ladakh Reservation (Amendment) Regulation, 2025;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ladakh Civil Services Decentralisation and Recruitment (Amendment) Regulation, 2025;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ladakh Official Languages Regulation, 2025;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (Amendment) Regulation, 2025.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Domicile Criteria:<\/strong> Individuals need to prove 15 years of continuous residence in Ladakh from <strong>October 31, 2019 (the day Ladakh became a UT)<\/strong>, to qualify as a domicile.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Children of Central government employees, All India Services officers, and PSU staff posted in Ladakh are eligible under specific conditions;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Women\u2019s Political Representation:<\/strong> One-third of seats in Ladakh\u2019s Autonomous Hill Development Councils (LAHDCs) reserved for women on a rotational basis.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#ebecf0\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Geography of Ladakh<\/strong><br>&#8211; It is a <strong>high-altitude cold desert<\/strong>, lying in the <strong>rain shadow of the Himalayas.<\/strong><br>&#8211; It is dominated by three major mountain ranges like<strong> Zanskar Range, Ladakh Range and Karakoram Range.<\/strong><br>&#8211; <strong>Major Mountain Passes:<\/strong> Khardung La and Chang La<br>&#8211; <strong>Major Rivers:<\/strong> Indus, Nubra, Shyok, and Zanskar<br>&#8211; It shares its <strong>international borders <\/strong>with<strong> China <\/strong>(North &amp; East); <strong>Pakistan-occupied Kashmir<\/strong> (Northwest); and Afghanistan.<br>&#8211; It is the <strong>2nd largest district <\/strong>in India after Kutch in Gujarat.<br>&#8211; It falls under <strong>Seismic Zone IV<\/strong> (high earthquake risk).<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/ladakh\/sonam-wangchuk-ladakh-protests-violence\/article70088975.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source: TH<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Violent youth protests in Ladakh demanding statehood and Sixth Schedule status have led to four deaths and over 30 injuries.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Background: From UT Status to Unrest<\/strong><\/h3>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">August 2019: Ladakh was separated from Jammu &#038; Kashmir and made a Union Territory without a legislature, unlike Jammu &#038; Kashmir.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Initially, many Ladakhis welcomed the move, hoping for better governance and development.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">However, the absence of legislative power and fears of demographic change soon led to disillusionment.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) emerged as key voices, representing both Buddhist and Muslim communities across Leh and Kargil.<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/25-09-2025\/ladakh-statehood-protests\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read\u00a0More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55180"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55331,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55180\/revisions\/55331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}