New Delhi: First time Lok Sabha member, Jamyang Tsering Namgyal on Tuesday became the voice of Ladakh with a crucial intervention during a debate in the House on revocation of Article 370 which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
Namgyal drew thumping applauses from the treasury benches for his passionate speech and was appreciated by none less than Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“My young friend, Jamyang Tsering Namgyal who is @MPLadakh delivered an outstanding speech in the Lok Sabha while discussing key bills on J&K. He coherently presents the aspirations of our sisters and brothers from Ladakh. It is a must hear!,” Modi tweeted soon after Namgyal’s speech.
Namgyal represents Ladakh in Lok Sabha and his intervention became more critical because with both Houses of Parliament passing the Jammu and Kashmir reorganization bill, Ladakh region will now be converted into a union territory.
Namgyal, 34, is a young leader of the party and one of its key voices in the Ladakh region. He has grown ranks within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as he was an active student leader with associations to the Bharatiya Jan Yuva Morcha (BJYM) as well as All Ladakh Student Association.
Prior to being elected to Lok Sabha, he has served first as councilor and later as chairperson of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh. As a leader of the BJP, he has served as state’s spokesperson and media secretary.
His Lok Sabha profile also states that he has prolific art and writing background. He has published a book titled “Nyam-rtsom Gyi Leg-skyes” (Ä Gift of Poetry), is a teacher, a director at an arts school and is into organic farming.
On Tuesday, his speech focused on the demand of Ladakh to become a union territory, accusing the Congress of not doing enough for the region when it was in power and criticizing both regional parties of the region – National Conference (NC) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) – for damaging grassroot democracy was the key thrust of Namgyal’s speech on Tuesday.
“I am very glad that a lot of people referred to Ladakh, Leh and Kargil in their speeches but I want to know that do they really know what Ladakh is? In the last seven decades, Ladakh was not embraced, it was thrown in one corner and there were statements in this House that it was that land where not one speck of grass grows,” he said while beginning his speech in the House.
“We have struggled for 71 years to make Ladakh a union territory and to be a part of India. The earlier governments gave us no audience and never tried to understand us. Under Kashmir, our development, our political aspiration, our identity, our language – if all of this got lost it is because of Article 370 and the Congress party is responsible for that,” he added.
