Srinagar: A crucial meeting earlier this month between the apex bodies spearheading the ongoing agitation for the restoration of democracy in Ladakh and the Union government has ended in a deadlock.The meeting was the second interaction between the two sides after violence erupted during a peaceful protest in Ladakh’s capital Leh in September last year in which four protesters were killed allegedly in police firing while at least 90 civilians, mostly minors, were injured.Ladakh is represented by leaders of the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) in the talks. Chering Dorjay Lakrook, the LAB co-chairman, said that the civil society shared a 29-page draft proposal on granting statehood and Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on November 17 last year.Among other demands, the apex bodies had called on the MHA to release climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and others who were arrested in the aftermath of September 24 violence.“It [meeting] lasted for around two hours during which we were informed that it [statehood and Sixth Schedule] was not feasible and practical. The government’s argument was that almost the entire Ladakh region is inhabited by scheduled tribes and it doesn’t need protection from anyone,” Lakrook said. According to the Union tribal ministry, 79.5% of the population in Ladakh belongs to different tribal groups while in the north east states like Mizoram, Nagaland and Meghalaya, the size of the tribal population is even higher at 94.4%, 86.5% and 86.1%, respectively. However, a Press Information Bureau release states that more than 97% of the population of Ladakh belongs to various tribal groups. Rejecting the government’s argument, Lakrook who is also the chairman of Ladakh Buddhist Association said: “Meghalaya is also a state which has autonomous councils under Sixth Schedule. Why can’t we have the same arrangement for Ladakh? The government is trying to mislead us.”He said that the apex bodies had made a request to the MHA for allowing their two advocates to join the meeting which was chaired by Union minister of state for home Nityanand Rai in the national capital.“We could have defended our argument for Sixth Schedule and statehood in a legally better way but the government rejected our request,” he said. The Sixth Schedule of the constitution empowers the tribal areas to safeguard their autonomy, culture and land.The MHA is believed to have offered a ‘territorial council’ model along with Article 371 for Ladakh during the meeting under which the chief executive councillor of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council will be designated as chief minister and the deputy chief executive councillor as deputy chief minister.Lakrook who is an influential figure in the Buddhist community said that the apex bodies rejected the government’s proposal as an alternative to statehood. “Strengthening hill councils is not our demand,” he said. The LAB co-chairman said that the peaceful struggle in Ladakh will continue if their demands are not met. “We had to fight for 70 years to get the Union Territory status. We are ready to continue our struggle for another 70 years if it comes to that.”Last week, Ladakh chief secretary Ashish Kundra rejected “speculative media reports (that) give a negative slant” to the recent round of talks between the apex bodies and the MHA’s high powered committee which was set up in 2023 to chalk out the future of the border region following its separation from Jammu and Kashmir and demotion into a Union Territory without a legislature. Kundra claimed that the meeting was held in “cordial and constructive” atmosphere and that the government was “actively engaged with all stakeholders of Ladakh in a democratic spirit”. “Rumours and twisted narratives are avoidable at this juncture,” he said. His remarks came after Asgar Ali Karbalai, the KDA co-chairman, told a gathering in Ladakh on Wednesday that the Union government had rejected the demand of sixth schedule and statehood for Ladakh during the February 4 meeting. The LBA-KDA combine has been holding talks with the MHA for nearly three years to break the prevailing political deadlock in the region following its separation from J&K in 2019 which has allegedly led to the alienation among local residents of the sensitive border region.Sajad Hussain, a KDA member, sought to downplay Karbalai’s remarks, saying that the demands of the apex bodies have not been rejected.“The government raised certain objections and reservations regarding our draft proposal. In the course of such deliberations, it was expected and we defended our proposal with sincerity and clarity,” he said.Hussain said that the Union government should place its proposal before the apex bodies before the next meeting, the date has not been announced yet. “We categorically rejected the government’s framework of Article 371 along with a territorial council,” he said.