Ladakh administration defends land allotment cancellation to Sonam Wangchuk’s university

Leh, Aug 24: Under fire for alleged high-handedness, the Ladakh administration on Sunday justified taking away land allotted to climate activist Sonam Wangchuk’s university more than seven years ago and said it was done as per the rules.

However, the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), which along with the Leh Apex Body (LAB) is spearheading an agitation for their four demands, including statehood and extension of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution to the Union Territory, came in support of Wangchuk and warned of mass protests against any attempt to browbeat the Ladakh leadership.

Leh Deputy Commissioner Romil Singh Donk, in an order on August 21, said the land measuring 1,076 kanals and 1 marla (over 53.8 hectares) allotted to the Himalayan Institute of Alternative Learning (HIAL) in 2018 “stands escheated to the State, i.e., LAHDC (Leh Autonomous Hill Development Council), and the Tehsildar, Leh, shall remove all the encumbrances from the said piece of state land as per provisions of the law and effect entries in the revenue record accordingly”.

The order said the land in Phyang was given to HIAL on lease for 40 years, and it has not been used for the purpose allotted “as no university (as recognised by law) has been set up” to date.

"No lease agreement has been executed in respect of the allotted land, and no formal handing over and taking over of the said land has taken place through Tehsildar Leh to date, as per record," the order said.

A day after Wangchuk, who is an executive member of LAB, accused the administration of a ‘witch-hunt’ through this “motivated decision” and threatened to move the court for justice, Ladakh Chief Secretary Pawan Kotwal said HAIL violated the lease agreement, prompting cancellation of the lease as per the law.

Flanked by the Leh deputy commissioner and other senior officers, Kotwal said, “This is a unique case where the lease was cancelled only due to non-utilisation for the proposed university.”

“No land will be taken back from people using state or barren land for agriculture or housing, as long as documents are proper. The land originally granted by Maharaj (the last Dogra ruler) for agricultural purposes should be utilised accordingly, and only procedural lapses led to the lease cancellation,” he said.

He said a committee has been constituted to streamline land records in the UT.

KDA leadership, meanwhile, took strong exception to the cancellation of the land lease to the HIAL and said, “We see it as an attempt to browbeat the Ladakh leadership fighting for statehood and the Sixth Schedule for the region.”

“The KDA executive body met for the first time after a three-day-long chain hunger strike from August 9 to 11 and discussed in detail the recent developments, including the deployment of a large number of CRPF personnel and the cancellation of the land lease to Wangchuk’s institute,” its co-chairman, Asgar Ali Karbalai, told reporters in Kargil.

Karbalai, flanked by senior members including chairman Qamar Ali Akhoon, said both KDA and LAB are in favour of the continuation of talks with the Ministry of Home Affairs to resolve all issues peacefully.

“After the last meeting on May 27, almost three months have passed, but the Centre failed to convene the next round of meetings...we are not begging but want to request the government not to test our patience. If the people will come on the roads, do not blame us for that,” he said.

Accusing the central government of using delaying tactics to avoid talks on statehood and the Sixth Schedule, he said they see the large-scale deployment of CRPF in an otherwise peaceful region as suspicious and are not happy with it.

Similarly, the administration’s decision to cancel the land lease deal to HIAL is also of grave concern. “This is not an individual issue but a deliberate attempt to pressurise the leaders involved in the ongoing agitation in support of a four-point agenda.”

“Any attempt to threaten the leaders is not acceptable to the people of Ladakh. We strongly condemn these arm-twisting tactics and warn the administration to stop such tactics before the situation gets out of control,” Karbalai said.

He said the KDA and LAB will meet after His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, returns from Ladakh and chalk out the future course of action.

On the recruitment drive, the chief secretary said the administration is focused on youth employment.

“The recruitment board advertised 534 posts on July 16, and more than 1.5 lakh applications have been received. Our priority is the recruitment drive for non-gazetted posts through the respective boards, and we are fully engaged in this process for the benefit of Ladakh’s youth,” he said.