• Antony Vigilious Clement

Jammu and Kashmir acceded to the Union of India with a special status in October 1947. However, it lost its special status because of the New Delhi’s abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution in August 2019. As a result, the state of Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into two Union Territories - Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. In both Union Territories (UT), the struggle for statehood and other demands are being carried out in a democratic manner.

At present, the UT of Ladakh has one parliamentary constituency. It has two autonomous councils - Leh and Kargil. The majority of Leh residents are Buddhists. A large number (more than 77%) of Kargil’s population are Muslims.

Despite the many disagreements between the two communities, the two are united upon many of Ladakh’s key demands, including statehood, its inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, reservation of jobs for sons of the soil, a separate parliamentary constituency for Leh and Kargil and the freedom of their lands from outsider occupation.

Why is ‘Ladakh’ significant? It is a “sensitive, border region near China and Pakistan, and it is extremely important to keep people on board” (Yashraj Sharma/aljazeera.com). Why? Because it shares a ‘Line of Actual Control’ with China’s’ Tibet Autonomous’ region and Xinjiang. Also, the disputed ‘Depsang’ and ‘Pangong Lake’ come under this area. This is where the Galwan Valley, the site of the deadly clash between the soldiers of the two countries in 2020, is located.'

The border dispute between India and China has been a matter of dispute between the two countries for a long time. Therefore, the development works being carried out by New Delhi under the guise of national security in the ‘UT of Ladakh’ are of immense importance. Especially important are the construction of several roads for the army, the construction work near the Line of Actual Control, the tunnel road connecting Srinagar with ‘Leh’, the ‘Leh’ airport, solar energy, etc. These are being carried out against the sentiments of more than two lakh people living there. However, “Over the years, the Chinese have built an extensive region of motorable roads in the region,…. making it easier for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to patrol the region and pour in troops from Tibet and the mainland to secure it on short notice” (Prakhar Gupta/ swarajyamag.com).

Moreover, the Union Home Ministry does not seem to be taking any steps to gain the confidence of the people of Ladakh is a matter of concern. Furthermore, the promises made by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Parliament in 2019 to fulfil their demands are still up in the air.

Consequently, the people of Ladakh feel cheated and unheard by Delhi, so protests and hunger strikes have been used as tools upon the democratic path to gain Delhi’s ear. It is important to highlight here that “Nations do not fall because of foreign conquest alone - they crumble from within when the bonds of unity snap under the weight of discontent and mistrust” (Najeeb Jung/indianexpress.com).

The high-powered committee formed by the Ministry of Home Affairs to talk to the people of Ladakh has the maximum number of supporters of the Union Government. Therefore, Ladakh’s educationist and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk began another hunger strike as the talks failed to yield results.

As a consequence of the failure, the youth of Ladakh lost patience and violence broke out in many places of Ladakh. Four people were tragically killed when the police opened fire to suppress the youth’s protest. As a result, the central government decided that Sonam Wangchuk’s hunger strike was the root cause of this incident; and he was arrested under the National Security Act (NSA) and lodged in the central prison in Jaipur.

It is certainly impossible to build a cordial relationship between the central government and the people of Ladakh by keeping Sonam Wangchuk in jail and filing unnecessary charges against him. One of the four persons killed in the shooting was a Kargil war veteran.

The reason for this impossibility is that the people of Ladakh were never ready to accept the suppressing treatment of New Delhi or the imposition of progress under the guise of development. The Union Government’s response to the Ladakh issue is a matter of concern, detrimental to our national security. “In geostrategic studies, people of the land also have a significant role in shaping the political discourse. It is necessary to keep the aspirations of the people and other related political intricacies in mind while considering the strategic importance of an area” (I. Hussain and M. Meera/indiandefencereview.com).

If the people of Ladakh feel that their land is being snatched by these development projects, then it is the responsibility of the Union Government to answer this. When the people of Ladakh feel that there is no one to hear their voice, those in power should answer.

Small drops of water turn into an ocean. Likewise, even small hurts can lead to major injuries. If New Delhi does not change its current assertive approach towards Ladakh, then the situation will become catastrophic. This will encourage external players to intrude into Ladakh and manipulate conditions in their favour. “Political and defence experts have expressed caution, saying any escalation would only alienate people, posing serious risks for India’s national security” (Zoya Mateen and Auqib Javed/bbc.com).

New Delhi should not forget that they are playing in a sensitive and strategically important spot. Therefore, New Delhi should be wise enough to act quickly with a humane touch towards the concerns of the Ladakh people in accordance with the proverb ‘prevention is better than cure.’

The first step towards making peace is that the people of Ladakh should be taken into confidence. Here, the Union Government should establish a commission for a proper inquiry into the killing of four people by the police shooting during the violence. Also, New Delhi should order the release of the detainees in Ladakh. If this happens, then the situation may change.

Further, New Delhi should create this opportunity without imposing preconditions for talks. This atmosphere will persuade the representatives of Ladakh to come forth for negotiations with New Delhi. However, to achieve any breakthrough, the people of Ladakh and New Delhi should understand the reality of concerns on both sides. Realising the concerns of both sides would represent a leap forward to defuse the current impasse. The author is an AICC Member