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SRINAGAR: Environmentalist and Leh Apex Body (LAB) member Sonam Wangchuk met Union home minister Amit Shah in Leh along with a clutch of other leaders from the Union territory late Thursday, with the interaction largely focused on Buddha and spirituality.Shah was on a two-day Ladakh visit to attend an international exposition of Buddha’s holy relics. He urged the leaders “to keep faith in Lord Buddha” and said “everything will be alright”.“The meeting was called by the home minister. During the interaction, he said Ladakh-related issues would be discussed on May 22 in a (MHA) sub-committee meeting. He said his current visit is purely spiritual and that he is here to pay obeisance to Buddha relics,” former Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) chief executive Gyalson told TOI. He was among those who met Shah. The others were LAB co-chairman Tsering Dorje Lakrook and Ladakh MP Mohmad Haneefa.Gyalson said Shah asked them to approach the May 22 meeting with “an open mind” and a willingness to find a middle path. “If we reach a consensus, it will be taken up in detail and concluded in a high-powered committee meeting later,” Gyalson added.According to Lakrook, they had raised several demands during the 30-minute meeting, including urging Shah to chair a high-powered committee of the MHA on the talks. Lakrook disclosed that the home minister declined, saying he was currently on a spiritual journey.Lakrook said they had also requested an upgrade of the May 22 talks from the sub-committee level to a high-powered meeting. MP Haneefa quoted Shah as saying if the talks move forward, they would be followed by a high-powered meeting.The Leh meeting with Shah came over seven months after four people were killed and over 80 injured in alleged police firing on protesters in Leh demanding statehood and Sixth Schedule safeguards on Sept 24, 2025. Wangchuk was accused of inciting the protesters through speeches. He was arrested and charged under National Security Act (NSA) and kept in Jodhpur jail.The Centre revoked Wangchuk’s NSA detention in March this year and affirmed the Centre’s commitment to “constructive engagement and dialogue” to resolve the region’s issues. After his release, Wangchuk has pressed for such talks, saying Ladakh “hangs between trust and mistrust”.The first round of talks between the MHA panel and Ladakhi representatives was held in Delhi on Oct 22 last year after the Centre ordered a judicial inquiry into the alleged firing. Another round of talks took place on Feb 4 but remained “inconclusive”.
