'Informal' MHA meeting on Ladakh today

SRINAGAR: Over a month after talks between Ladakh groups and a Union home ministry (MHA) sub-committee in Delhi, informal parleys are slated to be held Friday in Leh with central officials.“The meeting will focus on minutes of the last meeting and other issues,” Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) co-chairman Sajjad Kargili said. He made it clear that unlike earlier, it will not be a formal sub-committee or high-powered panel meeting.Additional MHA secretary Lokhande Prashant Sitaram will lead the talks. Leh Apex Body member and environmentalist Sonam Wangchuk will not attend the meeting as he is away in Delhi on a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar in a Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) protest.The Union Territory had on June 23 observed a complete shutdown against the Centre’s alleged backtracking on understandings reached during a May 22 meeting with MHA officials in the national capital. Wangchuk had attended that meeting.LAB and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), the region’s two main political groups that had called the bandh, have alleged that draft minutes of the May meeting omitted an agreement on a proposed legislative body with authority over the bureaucracy as well as constitutional safeguards for Ladakh through a provision similar to Article 371. They insist the two “essentials” should be included.Several rounds of talks have been held with the Centre on Ladakh since 2023. The process stopped after four people were killed and over 80 injured on Sept 24, 2025, in alleged police firing on protesters in Leh demanding statehood. LAB’s Wangchuk was accused of inciting the protesters, arrested, charged under NSA and kept in Jodhpur jail. The Centre revoked his NSA detention in March this year. After his release, Wangchuk has pressed for talks.Get the latest India news and live updates. Download the TOI App.