Sonam Wangchuk breaks fast; home ministry to resume talks with Ladakh groups on December 3
New Delhi, Oct 21: Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk on Monday ended his fast along with others, after the home ministry assured them that the talks on Ladakh's demands will be resumed in December.
Join Secretary, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, Prashant Lokhande met the activists, who were sitting on an indefinite fast at Delhi's Ladakh Bhawan since October 6, and handed them a letter from the home ministry.
The letter said the high-powered committee of the ministry, which was holding talks with representatives from Ladakh, will meet them next on December 3.
Following this, Wangchuk and his supporters decided to break their fast and called off the sit-in.
"On the 16th day of our fast, I am happy to say that our main appeal has been resolved. Just now, the joint secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, came here at the Ladakh Bhawan and handed me this letter, which says the talks going on between the apex body of Leh and the KDA in Kargil with the central government will be resumed very soon, by December," Wangchuk said.
He hoped that the outcome of the talks between the ministry and the Leh Apex Body and Kargil Democratic Alliance, the two socio-political organisations from the two regions of Ladakh, will be positive.
"The talks will be carried out by these bodies and I hope that very good outcomes will come, not just for Ladakh but for the whole nation.
"I just hope that I do not ever again have to do another anshan (fast) for this reason and it will result in a very happy ending. I want to, on this occasion, thank everybody who supported us in this effort," Wangchuk said.
Chering Dorjay Lakruk, the president of the Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA), thanked Wangchuk and others who took out a march for resumption of the talks that were stalled.
"The talks will be resumed now. We have not achieved anything yet. We hope that the talks on our four-point demands will be meaningful," he said.
Ladakh MP Mohmad Haneefa also hoped that the talks will have a meaningful outcome.
"We had to go back to protest because the talks were not resumed even after (the Lok Sabha) election. We are happy that the talks are being resumed and hope that they will continue till a solution is found.
"We hope that the government will take these talks seriously and our issues will be resolved," Haneefa said.
Wangchuk, along with his supporters, marched to Delhi from Leh demanding Ladakh's inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. They reached the national capital on September 30 after walking for a month.
They were detained at the capital's Singhu border by the Delhi Police and released on the night of October 2.
Wangchuk sat on the fast on October 6 to press for the demand for Ladakh's inclusion in the Sixth Schedule and meet the top leadership of the government to raise the issue.
The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution includes provisions for the administration of tribal areas in the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram in the northeast. It establishes autonomous councils that have legislative, judicial, executive and financial powers to independently govern these areas.
The protesters are also demanding statehood, a public service commission for Ladakh and separate Lok Sabha seats for Leh and Kargil districts.
The march to Delhi was organised by the Leh Apex Body, which along with the Kargil Democratic Alliance, has been spearheading the agitation.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Ishan Kishan returns, Ruturaj Gaikwad named captain of India A team for Australia tour
New Delhi, Oct 21: Ishan Kishan returned to the national set-up as he was on Monday named in a 15-member India A squad, to be led by Ruturaj Gaikwad, for the upcoming tour of Australia.
Fresh from his fine hundred against Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy, Maharashtra's Gaikwad was named captain of the India A team.
India A will play two first-class matches against Australia A in Mackay and Melbourne and then take part in a three-day intra-squad game against the senior India team in Perth.
Apart from Gaikwad, the squad also includes other opening batters like Abhimanyu Easwaran and Sai Sudharsan, as India will likely need to name a reserve opener in their Test squad for the upcoming tour of Australia, with captain Rohit Sharma set to miss one of the first two matches of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for personal reasons.
Kishan, who was dropped from the BCCI central contracts earlier this year due to concerns that he was "prioritising" the cash-rich Indian Premier League over domestic cricket, made his return to the India A setup.
Kishan was last part of the India squad during the tour of South Africa in 2023, which he had left midway.
The batter had reportedly taken a personal break which did not go down well with the BCCI.
After the player decided to skip the domestic competitions in the run-up to the IPL, the BCCI dropped him from the central contract.
India A squad for the tour of Australia: Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), Abhimanyu Easwaran (vice-captain), Sai Sudharsan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Devdutt Padikkal, Ricky Bhui, Baba Indrajith, Ishan Kishan (WK), Abishek Porel (WK), Mukesh Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal, Navdeep Saini, Manav Suthar, Tanush Kotian.
