Omar green light to more powers for Ladakh A joint struggle by Leh’s Buddhists and Kargil’s Muslims for a separate Ladakh division appears to have started bearing fruit. Jammu and Kashmir’s minister of state for science and technology Feroze Khan, who represents Kargil’s Zashkar constituency in the Assembly, today said the government had agreed to hive off Ladakh from Srinagar police range into a new zone. “We will have a separate police range headed by a deputy inspector-general of police who will be headquartered in Leh for six months and in Kargil for six months,” Khan said. “This is a historic decision and will solve our many problems. A policeman in Ladakh has to cover 400km or more to come to Srinagar for small things,” the junior minister added. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by chief minister Omar Abdullah last week. However, Khan said, the government was reluctant to concede the demand for a separate division. “The chief minister said he would think over it. (But he also said) that we already have (autonomous) councils and will now have a separate police range. He avoided that question…. But we will continue fighting for that,” Khan said. The state now has two divisions, Jammu and Kashmir. Ladakh is part of the Kashmir division but its two districts, Leh and Kargil, are run by autonomous hill development councils. Leh and Kargil joined hands for the first time recently to fight for the creation of a third division in the state, virtually seeking azaadi from Kashmir. Another major demand that has been accepted is to give the Leh and Kargil councils the power to transfer officers within the district. “All officers, apart from the heads of departments in these districts, will now be transferred by the (hill development) councils,” Khan said. The decisions will have to be approved by the cabinet. “We hope they are implemented soon,” Khan said. Rigzin Spalbar, chief executive councillor, Leh Autonomous Hill Development Council, said he would go through the minutes of the meeting before commenting. The move to confer more powers to Ladakh has enraged separatists. Hurriyat hawk Syed Ali Shah Geelani said it was a “sinister design” to divide Jammu and Kashmir and create a Union territory.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Jul 2013 08:19:44 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015