The development came as contrary to govt claims, the people of Kargil strongly oppose abrogation of Art 370 across political and religious lines.
According to the government’s plan, Kargil will be part of the union territory of Ladakh, which will not have its own legislature.
On Monday, all religious and political organisations of the Kargil district got together to discuss the changes. They released a joint statement condemning the Centre’s move and announced a district-wide strike on Tuesday.
In a statement, the joint action committee said, “All the participants unanimously condemned and rejected which was taken without the consent from the people of Jammu and Kashmir and against the aspirations of the people of the state.”
The strike, the statement said, was “a token of public resentment against the unjustful decision taken by the union government”.
The statement was signed by the president of the Anjuman-e-Jamiat-ul-Ulema Isna Ashriya Kargil and chairman of the Imam Khomeini Memorial Trust Kargil.
While leaders and groups from Kargil have made their feelings clear, their elected representative does not seem to be getting the message. BJP MP from Kargil Jamyang Tsering had lauded the Narendra Modi government for ending the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and reorganising the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories.
In both parliament and on other platforms including social media, Tsering has been insisting that there is nothing but celebration from the people of Ladakh.
Several BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, lauded Tsering’s speech in parliament. Modi said that the MP “coherently presents the aspirations” of Ladakhis.
Even before Tuesday, there were reports about how people in Kargil were unhappy with the move and there was no unified voice coming from Ladakh.
“Leh was demanding that Ladakh be freed from the Kashmir region over a long time but we are against the revocation of Article 370,” said Sajjad Hussain who fought the 2019 Lok Sabha elections supported by the National Conference and People’s Democratic Party but lost to Tsering.
“Kargil residents are safeguarding the borders of the country and the decision which was taken by the government is against our desire and aspirations.”