High-Powered Committee on Ladakh to reconvene months after protests
A meeting of the HPC was also scheduled on October 6, but after four locals were killed in police firing after a protest in September, the constituent groups refused to engage with the Centre until a set of demands were met
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs on Friday notified that the next meeting of the HPC, under the chairmanship of Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, will be held on February 4 at 4 pm at Kartavya Bhawan in New Delhi. The High-Powered Committee (HPC) constituted to address concerns of the Ladakhi people will meet on February 4 to continue talks that had remained suspended since last year.
The committee was constituted in 2023 to discuss measures to protect the region’s unique culture and language, taking into consideration its geographical location and strategic importance.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs on Friday notified that the next meeting of the HPC, under the chairmanship of Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, will be held on February 4 at 4 pm at Kartavya Bhawan in New Delhi.
On January 8, the MHA sent an invitation for the HPC to reconvene and sought “a convenient set of dates” from the members to meet in New Delhi.
A meeting of the HPC had also been scheduled on October 6, but after four locals were killed in police firing after a protest in September, the constituent groups refused to engage with the Centre until a set of demands, including a judicial inquiry, were met.
However, after the MHA extended an invitation for the HPC to reconvene, the socio-religious bodies representing both regions of Ladakh — Kargil and Leh — welcomed the move and agreed to join the conversation again.
Since its constitution, the HPC has been vital in securing protections for the Ladakhi people that include a 15-year prospective domicile clause. This implies that to qualify as a domicile of Ladakh, a citizen must show continuous residence from 2019 with a 15-year prospective. This is unlike the domicile clause for J&K, which was implemented retrospectively. In December last year, the HPC also gave Ladakhis a 95% quota for locals in govt recruitment.
After several rounds of deliberations, HPC talks came to a halt in March, with Ladakh pushing for protections under the Sixth Schedule and the MHA refusing to concede ground on that front. The two bodies leading the movement for statehood and other protections for the region also met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi. Shah had, however, said it “would not be possible” for the government to accommodate the region’s demand to be included in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. The Centre is also learnt to have turned down the request for a legislature. Unlike J&K, Ladakh is a Union Territory without a legislature.
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