Group demand state be split into four

quot;We demand political reorganisation of the Jamp;K state which envisages Union territory for Ladakh, separate state for Jammu and creation of Panun own Kashmir with a Union territory status for seven lakh internally displaced Kashmiri people,quot; they said.

JJSF president Rajinder Jamwal and LBA president Tsamphel charged that their regions had throughout been quot;discriminated against by the state governments dominated by Kashmirisquot; and said carving out separate entities of Jammu andLadakh would be an appropriate way to address the grievances of the people of these two regions.

quot;Ladakhis have always been dominated by Kashmir. We have never been comfortable and that is why we had started a campaign for UT status in 1989,quot; Samphel said, adding they later settled for hill district status for the sake of national interest.

The LBA leader said the Ladakhis had quot;again started feeling that our existence and future is in danger, particularly after the Farooq Abdullah government mooted the idea of pre-1953 position for the state.

quot;Right now, if we have any problems with the state government, we rush to the Centre. Where will we go if the Centre8217;s powers in the state are reduced?quot; he said.

Jamwal said the people of Jammu and Ladakh as well as Kashmiri pandits had nothing to do with more autonomy for the state and that it was quot;the demand of only the National Conference.quot;