The CPI(M) on Tuesday expressed solidarity with climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and others sitting on an indefinite fast since Sunday afternoon demanding Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh.
Wangchuk and his supporters began their indefinite fast at the Ladakh Bhawan here on Sunday after they were not given time to meet the top leadership - president, prime minister, or home minister -- on October 4.
"The CPI(M) expresses its support for Sixth Schedule status (for Ladakh) and demands that the government ministers concerned immediately meet Sonam Wangchuk and his team and resolve the issue," the party said in a statement.
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"It is a reflection of the authoritarian nature of the Modi government that 150 activists from Ladakh were not allowed to sit on a dharna after a peaceful padayatra all the way to the national capital," it added.
"Instead, they were arrested, ill-treated and now confined to Ladakh Bhavan where they have started an indefinite hunger strike," the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said.
The Left party claimed that the BJP in its 2019 election manifesto had promised Sixth Schedule status to protect the land of Ladakh from corporate mining companies and other private projects, which would not be carried out without the consent of the tribal population.
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On Monday, CPI(M) politburo member Brinda Karat and Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas met Wangchuk and other Ladakhi activists at Ladakh Bhawan.
Wangchuk and his supporters, who marched to Delhi from Leh to press for their demands, were detained at the Singhu border on September 30 before being released on October 2.
The march was organised by the Leh Apex Body, which along with the Kargil Democratic Alliance has been spearheading an agitation for the last four years seeking statehood for Ladakh, its inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, a public service commission for Ladakh, and separate Lok Sabha seats for Leh and Kargil districts.
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