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| Discriminated against people demand provincial status for their region | | The forgotten Ladakh | | Rustam
JAMMU, Jan 13: Only recently, prior to the elections of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), a meeting of the Chief Councilors of LAHDC, Leh and Kargil, was held under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. In the meeting, both the CECs demanded divisional status for the trans-Himalayan strategic Ladakh. In a major decision, the State Government did agree to create separate police range/division for Ladakh.
Earlier, in 1986 the State Government had sanctioned a post of Chief Engineer for Ladakh and appointed Sonam Dawa as first holder, but the post was later abolished when it was realized that the "position proved to be a financial burden for the state in long run. However, the people of Ladakh are not satisfied over the willingness of the State Government to create a police range for the region. Majority of Ladakhi people want divisional status for Ladakh, instead of allowing the largest area of the region to function as two districts of Kashmir division. It bears recalling that it was in 1979 that the region of Ladakh was divided into two districts (Leh and Kargil) by the Sheikh Abdullah Government on purely religious lines and his objective was to defeat the ongoing movement in the region for Union Territory status by pitting the Shiite Muslims and the Buddhists.
When funds are distributed, the third division of the State (Ladakh) is only allocated financial resources of two districts out of the 10 districts, within Kashmir Division. This is despite the fact that the region is far from the state's capitals and that it has its own peculiar problems. The district headquarter of Kargil is 200 Km. away from the summer capital, Srinagar. As far Leh, the distance is around 430 Km. Besides, the two districts of Ladakh are in no way similar to that of Kashmir or Jammu as far as its geography, culture and life style is concerned. Therefore, it is an appropriate time to grant divisional status to Ladakh.
As far as the size of Ladakh region is concerned, it stretches all the way from Zojila pass in the west to Demchok in the east and from Zanskar northwards to Nubra. Since the whole of Ladakh region is surrounded by high mountain passes falling on India's borders with hostile countries like China and Pakistan, its current geo-political position has become more critical than in the past. And it was for this reason that the three interlocutors appointed by the Government of India in October 2010 had in their otherwise highly controversial report suggested that Ladakh be detached from Kashmir division. The interlocutors submitted their report in October 2011, but no action on it has been taken in this regard. It is clear that there are elements in the establishment who do not want Ladakh to attain the political status it legitimately deserves.
Remember, even some vested interests in Kashmir had not taken kindly the idea of creating separate police range/division for Ladakh, saying that such a move would help Ladakh become independent of Kashmir. In any case, the demand of the people of Ladakh for divisional status is genuine and it deserves positive consideration |
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