Congress targets Amit Shah over Ladakh visit, flags silence on statehood

The Indian National Congress (INC) on Friday sharpened its attack on Union Home minister Amit Shah during his visit to Ladakh, accusing him of sidestepping key local demands even as he participates in a high-profile exposition of sacred Buddhist relics.

Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh took to X to criticise the minister, saying, “The Home minister is in Ladakh today basking in the glory of the Piprahwa relics, while remaining silent on the demands of the people there for statehood, Sixth Schedule status, and protection of land and employment.”

Ramesh also invoked history to underline his point, recalling that India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru had engaged more directly with Ladakh’s aspirations during his visit in July 1949. He noted that sacred relics of the Buddha’s chief disciples — Sariputta and Maha Moggallana — were repatriated from London and handed over to the Mahabodhi Society of India in Kolkata in January 1949.

According to Ramesh, during Nehru’s subsequent visit to Ladakh, Buddhist leader Kushok Bakula Rinpoche requested that the relics be brought to the region. “A year later in May 1950 this materialised, and the relics were taken around Ladakh for 79 days,” he said, adding that they were later enshrined in Yangon, Colombo and Sanchi.

The Congress has been consistently pressing the Centre to clarify its position on Ladakh’s long-standing demands, including full statehood, safeguards under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, and legal protections for land and jobs.

Shah, who arrived in Ladakh on Thursday, is attending the first-ever international exposition of holy relics of Lord Buddha in India. However, the opposition’s criticism underscores the widening political debate over governance and representation in the Union Territory.

The exchange highlights a broader tension between symbolic outreach and substantive policy commitments, as Ladakh’s residents continue to push for constitutional and administrative safeguards.

With PTI inputs