Kashmir Impulse Desk
Srinagar, Sep 17
National Conference parliamentarian Chowdhary Muhammad Ramzan on Thursday backed Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s call for leaders in Ladakh to seek written assurances from the central government on their demands for constitutional safeguards.
Ramzan said commitments made to people should be translated into concrete action.
He said the circumstances behind the creation of the Union Territories of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir were different.
According to Ramzan, people in Ladakh had long sought Union Territory status, but many had also expected the territory to have a legislative Assembly.
He said Jammu and Kashmir, by contrast, was made a Union Territory after the former state’s status was changed in 2019.
Ramzan said the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly had previously exercised significant legislative powers and that the constitutional changes of August 2019 altered the region’s status.
He said disappointment in Ladakh had grown among those who had expected a Union Territory with a legislature.
Ramzan said this was why Abdullah had urged Ladakh’s leaders and residents to remain cautious about assurances from the Centre.
“The commitments made to the people of Ladakh should be translated into action and properly implemented,” he said.
