Excelsior Correspondent
LEH, Apr 11: Ladakh Buddhist Association and All Ladakh Gonpa Association (LGA) held peace rallies to highlight various issues and demands, particularly for enactment of an anti-conversion law and declaring Bhoti as official language of the UT.
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The block level peace rallies were organized at Sham, Nubra, Changthang, Zanskar and Kargil Block.
The main rally was organized at Leh, which was led by LBA President Thupstan Chhewang and LGA President Shatup Chamba. Thousands of Buddhists from Kharu to Saspol took part in this rally.
Carrying banners and ply card, the rally started from LBA office Chowkhang Vihara and culminated at historical Polo Ground where various leaders addressed the gathering.
The rally was addressed by LBA President Thupstan Chhewang, LBA Youth Wing President Rigzin Dorjay, President LGA Shatup Chamba, LBA Women wing General Secretary Kunzes Dolma and President LBA Leh Unit Sonam Dorjay, who expressed their dismay over the Union Government’s apathetic attitude towards their serious and immediate concerns.
Later they submitted a memorandum to the Lt Governor of Ladakh through the Divisional Commissioner. The resolution adopted at the public gathering reads: “We shall fight for the enactment of an anti-conversion law to prevent conversion of our girls through allurements, misrepresentation, use of subtle coercive tactics and in the name of inter- religion marriages. We shall ensure due recognition of the Bhoti language as a medium of instruction in keeping with the National Education Policy. We shall prevail upon the Government to ensure faster recruitment to end the educated unemployment. We shall aim for the establishment of a department of culture exclusively devoted to preserving our rich and ancient culture and heritage and we shall have a Gonpa in Kargil.”
The resolution further reads: “We express anguish over the Government’s stony silence on each issue. The Government is overlooking our genuine claims while drum-beating achievements on enactment of anti-conversion law in at least nine BJP -ruled states and encouraging teaching in mother- tongue throughout the country.”
LBA appealed that Bhoti should be made the official language of the UT and introduced as a medium of instruction from nursery to the eighth Standard with separate departments of Higher Learning in existing/proposed universities of Ladakh.
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