The Congress on Monday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had promised to give constitutional protection to Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule, but is now retreating from fulfilling it.Party general secretary Jairam Ramesh targeted the BJP while mentioning the visit of Mongolian President Khurelsukh Ukhna to India.
Ramesh posted on ‘X’, ‘The President of Mongolia has reached New Delhi today with a high level delegation. Diplomatic relations between India and Mongolia were established in December 1955. India played an important role in getting Mongolia included in the United Nations in October 1961.
He said, ‘The turning point in this relationship came when Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi appointed the 19th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche, a highly popular and respected Buddhist monk from Ladakh, as India’s Ambassador to Mongolia in October 1989. He took over in January 1990 and remained India’s Ambassador there for an unusually ten years.’
According to Ramesh, his role was extremely important in reconnecting Mongolia with its Buddhist heritage and reviving it after the fall of communism in 1990. He says that even today in Mongolia, Rinpoche is remembered with respect as a distinguished personality.
The Congress general secretary said, ‘On June 10, 2005, the then Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh renamed the Leh airport as Kushok Bakula Rinpoche Airport and honored him as the “Architect of Modern Ladakh”.’
Ramesh said, ‘The renaissance of Buddhism—not only in Mongolia and the former Soviet Union, but also in India—is largely the result of Rinpoche’s efforts.’ He said, ‘Today, Ladakh of the 19th Kushok Bakula Rinpoche is waiting for a balm from the country, especially from the leadership of the party which had promised constitutional protection under the Sixth Schedule in its manifesto for the 2020 Local Hill Council elections, but now despite being in power, is shying away from fulfilling it.’
