The Leh Apex Body has boycotted talks with the Centre scheduled for October 6th. The decision follows the Centre not meeting demands for a judicial probe into the deaths of four people during the September 24th violence and for an apology over alleged 'anti-national' remarks.
00:00Latest news break right now coming in from Ladakh.
00:03Lays Apex body to boycott talks with the centre.
00:06Demand of judicial probe into the death of four people during September 24th.
00:11Violence has not been met and that is why the group has decided to boycott the talks with the centre.
00:17The group had also demanded an apology from the centre for calling the people of Ladakh anti-national.
00:22The next round of talks between the centre and representatives of Ladakh,
00:26including members of the Lays Apex body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance were scheduled for October 6th.
00:32As of now, what we have been given to understand that the Lays Apex body has boycotted,
00:37refused to talk with the centre on two grounds.
00:41Number one, their demand of a judicial probe into the death of four people during September 24th.
00:48Violence has not been met.
00:50The group has also demanded an unconditional apology from the centre
00:54for calling the people of Ladakh what they say was anti-national.
00:59I want to quickly cut across to my colleague Meir Fareed who is going to break it down for us
01:03because clearly Ladakh continues to be on edge.
01:06Meir, Lays still in curfew and the latest coming in that the Lays Apex body has decided
01:13they are not going to talk to the centre.
01:16Break it down for us.
01:17What does this mean now?
01:18Well, this means deadlock in the coming days.
01:26The centre will now have to work hard to restore the confidence, trust of the Ladakhis and especially
01:31the Apex body on the dialogue process because I have been here from the last five, six days
01:37and speaking to a cross-section, they say that they have this sense of betrayal.
01:41They say that the talks that have happened from the last four years have been mostly on peripheral issues.
01:47The main issues, issues which are at the heart of it is statehood, then the sixth schedule
01:53where the demanding tribal rights and then basically these two are the major issues
01:58and they say that the centre has been dilly-dallying and these are time-wasting tactics
02:04and now the anger which really poured on the roads in the form of violence was not because
02:09they were wrong, it was because the centre did not heed and did not fulfil its promises
02:16because it is the BJP government too which had promised them that they will give them
02:21because these are genuine demands within the constitution of India.
02:24So, there is anger and then obviously what has not helped things is the violence, the casualties,
02:30Preeti, four people have been killed and that has led to a lot of anger.
02:34People are angry because they believe that this kind of violence, it could have been treated
02:39or taken control through non-lethal means.
02:42Firing was not needed and that really has only added fuel to the fire.
02:47And then lastly, the arrest of Sonam Wangchuk, which again they are calling it witch hunt,
02:52saying that that again was something that the centre through that sent this message to the people
02:59that now they will come down hard and on one hand while the centre says dialogue
03:05but the actions on the ground suggest that they do not want that, they want to suppress this
03:11and the arrest of Sonam Wangchuk is being seen on those lines.
03:15So, people are unhappy, Ladakh is on the edge and it is definitely now a big mission
03:22as far as the BJP government is concerned, to restore confidence, trust and firstly to remove restrictions
03:29and also importantly release the people.
03:32There have been random arrests, people feel that the people who have been arrested, the youth,
03:37they were not involved in violence, well some could have been but there have been random arrests
03:42and that's something that they are now saying that they need to release these people and they have put forth four demands.
03:48Basically, number one, release the people who have been arrested, youth post that violence,
03:54unconditional release of Sonam Wangchuk and then they are also saying that curfew should be lifted
04:02and before, in fact, once these demands are met, then only they can think of returning to the dialogue table.
04:09So, it seems that people right now are angry, the EPIC's body has also sensed it and they definitely feel that the sentiment right now is
04:18that dialogue should not happen.
04:21First, the centre should clear there as far as the anti-national comments are concerned
04:27because not just Sonam Wangchuk, in a way they have blamed the people of Ladakh for being anti-nationals
04:34which it seems has hurt them the most.
04:37Preeti?
04:38Alright, Mir, you know, we are going to continue to come back to you for more updates on the story
04:41but Mir, just a short while back, spoke to Sonam Wangchuk's wife, Dr. Gitanjali Yangmo, CEO of Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, Ladakh.
04:50In this exclusive interview, she talks about how she is waiting still to speak to her husband
04:54who has been detained under the stringent NSA. Listen in.
05:03He was very weak after the 15 days of strike and then to be taken, you know, by the police,
05:10it's very, very painful and more painful is the fact that for the last 48 hours I have not been in touch with him.
05:20The police here had promised that after the land in Jodhpur they would make him speak to me or they would speak to me
05:27but I am still awaiting the call. Neither have they given us the detention order.
05:33Not just me but everybody in Ladakh or in India who would hear of these charges would laugh at them
05:38because these are absolutely baseless charges. The whole country has seen that for the past 5 years
05:46he has been leading this movement and this protest in the most peaceful, in the most Gandhian way possible.
05:52Be it his padhyatras, be it his ancians and he has always followed the path of, you know, non-violence and peace.
06:00So it is, everybody is, you know, aghast and know that this has been deliberately done to frame him.
06:11Because given his past record and his methods, he always stood for progress, for science, for innovation, for climate work, for patriotism,
06:22working for Indian army, you know, asking Indians to boycott China.
06:28So everybody knows him as a great innovator, as a patriot, you know, as a nationalist.
06:34So to be taken in NSA which is the most draconian act, you know, and for public safety, I mean, it is not just to me,
06:44everybody knows that this is just have been used by people in power to use the national machinery that they have working for them
06:54to unnecessarily defame and frame, you know, the person who is the pride of India.
07:00Sodom Wangchuk and I are the people who run this not-for-profit organization in a manner that we do not take even salaries.
07:12So every year, we contribute 50 lakhs to 1 crore of our personal money into these projects.
07:20So we are always welcoming of anyone who wants to look into our accounts which have been duly, you know, submitted to the registrar of companies, to the IT department.
07:33It would be evident that till date, Mr. Sonam Wangchuk would have contributed not less than 5 CR to the projects that he is doing.
07:41So when you are giving your own money, then where is the money to launder?
07:47And money laundering is by definition using Havala and cash transactions and all of that.
07:53And our bank statements which are there with the CBI and with the IT clearly shows that more than 99% of our transactions happen online through bank transfers.
08:05So there is no cash transactions and when we are putting in our own money, where is the money to launder?
08:11You know, so all these are just big words because a common Indian or a common citizen would not have access to these documents.
08:22And he or she would be, you know, suddenly it would be like defamation happening.
08:29And they are using it as a smoke screen, you know, using these big words.
08:33So it was not a CBI raid.
08:34When CBI came here, they said we are fact finding.
08:37And we were completely cooperative with them and we gave them all the, you know, documents.
08:43And I can have that gentleman, Mr. Vishal, who came here, you know, online to check with him if it was something that was not given to him.
08:52So when you have nothing to hide and when you cooperate and you give all the details, then the only thing and everybody knows that this is the way they use, as I said, the entire machinery, you know, because they are slowly building up and trying to frame.
09:07And it is not something that started, though it might have intensified in the last one month.
09:12But this has started in the last four years, ever since he started his anshan.
09:17You know, they have delayed our registration with the UGC.
09:22Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan, who is the Education Minister of India, openly told me that he will not move our file because still Sonam Wangchuk is asking for sick schedule.
09:33They have called up all the heads of PSUs and told them not to support us with their CSR funds.
09:39This is those very, you know, we got to know from them.
09:43They have tried to stall all our registrations, including the FCRA for HAYAL.
09:48And now they are saying that FCRA has been violated by HAYAL.
09:52It hasn't been because FCRA is needed only for donations.
09:56But the funds that we had received is for research that we conducted for those universities.
10:03And for the government, it should be a matter of pride because no foreign university takes research from India.
10:10HAYAL is the only institute which does reverse technology transfer.
10:15All right viewers, things still on the edge where Ladakh is concerned.
10:20Trust India today to get you one up on all developments coming in from there.
10:23With that exclusive interview of Sonam Wangchuk's wife.
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