The contemporary India confronts a variety of challenges. The problem of social division along the regional line is one of the challenges India is facing at present.
Among the various social divisions in India, Sub-Regionalism has raised some of the most complicated issues. As the present standoff between the Leh and Kargil over the issues of headquarters of the newly created Ladakh Division is one of the issues rising due to Sub-Regionalism. Both the two regions are politically and ideologically divided and contradictory to each other. The latest demonstration of this contradiction between the two regions was witnessed in the latest stand off between Leh and Kargil on the creation of separate Division for Ladakh with its headquarters at Leh and the subsequent opposition from the Kargil for creating Leh as the permanent headquarter of the newly created Ladakh Division. This creation of separate Ladakh Division was celebrated in Leh as a great day while Kargil observed complete shut down and protest still continues in the Kargil town.
Difference between the Leh and Kargil region of the state must be understood in order to comprehend the “Kashmir Problem” fully. As most of the time the problem in Jammu and Kashmir and the overall media coverage on the issues has entirely ignored the enormous plurality of the state of J&K. The internal politics of the state is marked by inter-regional and intra-regional tensions. A sort of local nationalism has developed in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. This plurality is not only in terms of its cultural, religious and linguistic plurality. Rather the state of Jammu and Kashmir is plural also in terms of its diversity of issues, this state has both separatist as well as integrationist forces fighting their own different but common battle of securing it identity in the face of adversity. An understanding of the causes of the divergent mood of the two regions is vital for any way forward for the so-called “Kashmir problem”.
Ladakh, the highest plateau of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, occupies almost 70 percent of the territory of the state but account for only less than 3 percent of the total population of the state. Ladakh consists of two district of Leh and Kargil as Kargil district was carved out of the present Leh in 1979. The population of Kargil is approx. 1.50 Lakh according the 2011 census and the majority of the populations of Kargil are Shi’a Muslims and the rest is Buddhist concentrated mainly in the Zanskar valley. The population of Leh according the 2011 census is approx. 1.47 lakh and the majority of the populations are Buddhist.
It is important to understand that both the district of Leh and Kargil have even have different stand on the political issues pertaining to Ladakh region as Leh demands “Union Territory” and Kargil demands “Greater Ladakh”. Even during the visit of Centre’s special team led by Dineshwar Sharma’s visit to Ladakh, both the region expressed divergent views. While various organizations in the Leh district demanded Union Territory status for the Ladakh region, meanwhile various organizations in Kargil demanded ‘Greater Ladakh’ for the Ladakh region. This is not the end of the debate, as the minority population from Zanskar demanded district status for Zanskar and complained for the step motherly treatment meted out to them in the Kargil District. The State government responded to Ladakhi’s demands for regional autonomy by undercutting the political base of such groups and creating alternative political alignments, often along communal lines or regional line thus promoting sub regionalism in Ladakh. Supporting Thiksey Rinpoche against Bakula Bakula Rinpochey and Muslim leadership of Kargil against Buddhist leadership of Leh are few such examples. And the communal division of the district of Leh and Kargil in 1979 has contributed in the rise of Sub-Regionalism in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir. All the moves of the state government further intensified the regional tension and played a role in dividing the two regions further on the communal lines.
On the one hand the politics of Leh has been marked by the continued discontent against the power politics of Kashmiri elite on the one hand and it was in this context that the Leh is demanding Union Territory Status for Ladakh and Kargil has always opposed the stand taken by the Leh on the other hand so Kargil continues to oppose the stand taken by the Leh on any issues. It is not the first time that both regions are at conflict with each other as when the Governor’s administration granted the first university for Ladakh, there was huge protest in Kargil for placing university in the Kargil instead of Leh. Subsequent to which Governor’s administration has agreed to place university in both Leh and Kargil.
Beneath the present standoff between the twin district of Leh and Kargil in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, there is urge for identity in the face of adversity and this urge for identity has led to the rise of multiplicity of the political voice from the region of Ladakh.
As a citizen of newly created Ladakh division, I welcome the decision taken by the governor administration in granting Divisional Status to Ladakh, which has fulfilled a long pending demand of the Ladakh region. But the voice of dissent rising from Kargil should be addressed at the earliest and as a way forward to this stalemate Govt. should start a dialogue with the entire stakeholder in Kargil. As neglecting border population has never been a healthy practice of democracy and for its strategic location, the voice from Kargil should be given due consideration.
(Chhewang Dorje is a resident of Zanskar Valley in the Kargil District of Jammu and Kashmir. He is working as Lecturer Political Science at Government Higher Secondary School, Padum Zanskar. He is also pursuing his Ph.D as a part-time scholar from JNU)
chhewangdorje007@gmail.com