Srinagar: The day is not far when Ladakh will once again become a part of a united Jammu and Kashmir, as there is no other alternative for the Centre, J&K minister Javed Rana said on Tuesday.
Rana, who holds the Jal Shakti, Forest, Ecology and Environment, and Tribal Affairs portfolios, was responding to a question on the demands of a separate state for the Jammu region.
“I believe that the day is not far when Ladakh will again become a part of Jammu and Kashmir, a united Jammu and Kashmir. The government of India does not have any other alternative,” Rana told reporters on the sidelines of an interaction with members of the tribal communities.
Recalling that there was a time when J&K was a full-fledged state, Rana said, “You (Centre) gave one part to Pakistan… Gilgit-Baltistan was also given to Pakistan. You then separated Ladakh from it. What remains with us is Jammu and Kashmir. Those who divided this land now want to make Kanak Mandi (an area in Jammu) a state as well.”
“What can we say… There has been no such demand from the Pir Panjal or the erstwhile Chenab regions. Who will stop if a state is carved out of Kanak Mandi in Jammu?” he added.
The Centre bifurcated the erstwhile state of J&K into two Union territories – Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh – on August 05, 2019, when it also abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution that gave special status to the erstwhile state.
