Nearly 40 delegations meet Rajnath, demand UT status for Ladakh

Leh (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], Oct. 3 (ANI): Nearly 40 delegations, including representatives of political parties, religious, social, cultural organisations trade and tourism and social activists, called upon Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh here on Monday and unanimously demanded that Ladakh should be given the Union Territory status. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, the Home Minister said, "Today, not only the representatives of all political parties, but many religious, social and cultural organisations' delegations also met me. All of them unanimously demanded that Ladakh should be given the U.T. status." The Home Minister assured the members of various delegations that their genuine demands will be fulfilled. "Both the Centre and the state government will try to find solutions if there are some significant problems," he said. Singh noted that when he led an all-party delegation last month to Kashmir and Jammu then he had promised to the people of Ladakh that he would visit Ladakh the next month to have a direct communication with them. "Last month when I led an all-party delegation to Kashmir and Jammu, some people from Ladakh had met us with a complaint that whenever a delegation or a big leader comes then they visit mostly Kashmir and sometimes Jammu also and Ladakh is ignored always. Then I had promised to the people of Ladakh that I would visit Ladakh the next month and meet their delegation to have a direct communication," he added. The Home Minister said, "I am here till tomorrow (Tuesday) morning, and there will be more meetings before we depart for Kargil to hold meetings with delegations there. We will also learn from them about situation there." When asked about the situation in restive Kashmir, the Home Minister said the situation was improving gradually. This is the Home Minister's fourth visit to Jammu and Kashmir in the recent past. While concluding the all-party visit to Srinagar and Jammu last month, Singh had promised that he would soon visit Ladakh. "I know when we talk about the state of Jammu and Kashmir; we talk about three regions - Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. The delegation has already visited Kashmir and Jammu too has been covered; and soon, I will try to visit Ladakh to hold direct talks with people over there," he said. (ANI)