Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk on Thursday took a sarcastic swipe at the Union Government over the latest round of talks on Ladakh’s demands, sharing an old clip from comedian Jaspal Bhatti’s popular Flop Show to highlight what he termed lack of progress.
Taking to ‘X’ on Thursday, Wangchuk said leader of the Apex Body of Leh (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) were ‘rather disappointed’ with the meeting held with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) sub-committee in New Delhi on September 9. The meeting was conveyed to discuss Ladakh’s demands for statehood and constitutional safeguards, including protection under the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.
Sonam Wangchuk
“Nothing changed since previous meeting,” says Wangchuk
Wangchuk said hardly anything had changed since the previous meeting four months ago, claiming no draft proposal was received from the MHA and no response was given to the list of ‘non-negotiables’ submitted by Ladakh’s representatives a month earlier.
He added that there was no assurance that the government would refrain from making major or irreversible changes to local governance and land-transfer policies before a legitimate democratic Assembly was established in Ladakh.
Wangchuk said that perhaps, the only significant outcome was fixing the date for the next meeting in October. He then shared a clip from Bhatti’s comedy saga ‘Flop Show,’ writing, “This is why we're reminded of famous comedian Jaspal Bhatti's meetings today.”
Bhatti’s satirical meeting strikes a chord
Bhatti’s clip features officials spending hours in a meeting discussing a crisis before announcing that the only decision reached was to fix the date of their next meeting.
“Aaj to kamaal hi ho gaya. Unanimously ek decision hua... Next meeting ki date fix ho gayi hai!” the official says in the satirical scene.
Wangchuk appeared to draw a direct parallel between the comic sketch and the Ladakh talks, where the next round of discussions has reportedly been scheduled for October.
LAB, KDA call meeting ‘Very Disappointing’
The MHA-level discussions had been viewed as important by the LAB and KDA, particularly after the minutes of the May 22 meeting were signed by the ministry and the two organisations in Leh on July 3.
However, LAB co-chairman and former minister Chering Dorjay Lakrook said the latest talks failed to deliver the anticipated progress.
“There was not much headway. They (MHA officials) only reiterated the May 22 minutes of the meeting and there was no forward movement,” Dorjay said. He added that the representatives had expected a concrete draft proposal from the MHA, which could then have been examined before they responded to the government.
“We conveyed our disappointment to the officials in writing,” he said.
Sonam Wangchuk
According to Dorjay, MHA officials have assured the representatives that the next meeting will be held in Kargil during the first week of October.
Wangchuk questions timing of talks
Wangchuk also alleged that the September 9 meeting was aimed at diverting attention from a planned Leh-to-Kargil Padyatra, which was scheduled to begin on September 10.
“As we had guessed this meeting on 9th Sept seems to be just a red herring to distract Ladakh from the massive Leh to Kargil Padyatra march that was to start from 10th September,” he said.
“Trust is diminishing, distrust is growing unfortunately,” Wangchuk added.