Excelsior Correspondent
LEH, Apr 16: A day before its ‘Pashmina March’ to Himachal and China border to know the reality behind local shepherds losing their pasture land to industrialization and encroachments, Leh Apex Body (LAB) today said they are suspending the proposed programme due to non-cooperation of the Ladakh administration.
“We have decided to call off the Pashmina March for the second time (in two weeks) due to over-reaction by the administration. They have conveyed to travel and hotel associations that they will implement prohibitory orders and stop the internet for two months if we go ahead with our march,” prominent environmentalist Sonam Wangchuk told reporters here.
The LAB, along with the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), is spearheading an agitation for the past nearly four years to demand Statehood for Ladakh and its inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
Follow the Daily Excelsior channel on WhatsApp
Wangchuk, who was flanked by the leadership of LAB including its co-chairman Chering Dorjay, said the administration also did not allow them to undertake the foot-march and instead suggested moving to the area in vehicles.
“Going there in vehicles won’t serve our purpose as we want to show the truth by meeting our shepherds. We were only planning to go there in a small group of 12 persons and were expecting that the Government will facilitate our visit to show to the outside world that there is no problem of shepherds depriving of their pasture lands and not a single inch of our land has gone anywhere,” Wangchuk, who recently observed 21-day long hunger strike in support of statehood and sixth schedule, said.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
