7 months ago
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Five councillors of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) person moved the Jammu and Kashmir High Court against the Ladakh Lieutenant Governor’s bid to nominate a subordinate of the Muslim assemblage to the council. The petitioners person urged that the L-G’s bid beryllium quashed arsenic the spot is reserved for a subordinate of the “principle spiritual minority” from the portion and Buddhists, not Muslims, are the largest number radical successful Kargil.
Four of the 5 petitioners — Mohd Jaffer Akhoon, the president of LAHDC, Kargil from the National Conference (NC), and enforcement councillors Kacho Mohammad Feroz, Aga Syeed Mujtaba Mussavi and Zakir Hussain — are Muslims. The 5th petitioner, Punchok Tashi, besides an enforcement councillor, is simply a Buddhist.
Ladakh has 2 districts — the Buddhist-dominated Leh and the predominantly Muslim Kargil.
The Kargil elevation assembly has 30 seats. Out of the 26 contested seats, successful 2023, the National Conference won 12 seats, Congress-10, the Bharatiya Janata Party and Independents-two each.
On November, 12, L-G Kavinder Gupta nominated Reyaz Ahmed Khan, an advocator arsenic the 4th nominated subordinate of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Kargil. The different 3 members were nominated successful 2024.
The bid said that the information was made nether the powers conferred by Section 4 (2) of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council Act, 1997
“The Government whitethorn nominate not much than 4 persons from amongst the main spiritual minorities and women successful the territory to beryllium members of the Council,” the said conception says.
The petitioners person argued that information tin lone beryllium made of a idiosyncratic either belonging to the main spiritual number assemblage of the territory oregon a pistillate to guarantee number practice successful the Council.
The petition said that arsenic per the 2011 census, it being the past census carried out, astir 77% of the radical of Kargil are adherents of the Islamic Faith and that astir 14.29% of the colonisation are followers of Buddhist religion, whereas 7.34% are Hindus by faith.
“That fixed the information that successful the District of Kargil astir 77% of the radical are Muslims frankincense the religion of the bulk of territory Kargil is Islam and the main spiritual number is that of Buddhists, and therefore, the information arsenic countenanced nether Section 4(2) of LAHDC Act, 1997, successful truthful acold arsenic it pertains to District Kargil cannot beryllium of a idiosyncratic belonging to Islamic religion and has to beryllium of a idiosyncratic adhering to the Buddhist faith,” the petition said. In 2024, the 3 members who were nominated to the Kargil elevation assembly were 2 Buddhists and a woman- Namgyal Phontsok, Rigzin Gurmat, Hakeema Khatoon
The petition said that the nominated member, Reyaz Ahmed Khan, had unsuccessfully contested the 2023 elevation assembly predetermination “on the summons of a nationalist governmental enactment which is besides the enactment successful powerfulness astatine the Union/Centre and frankincense besides being successful nonstop power of the affairs of Union Territory of Ladakh.”
