Contemporary Ladakh: communal divide in Kargil & Leh

Ladakh consisting of two districts Kargil and Leh predominantly follows two major religions: Buddhism and Islam. Traditionally Ladakhi people are renowned for their peace loving nature. However, since the early 1980s the traditional bonding and communal harmony dramatically changed due to many incidents of communal clashes.

Indeed, there are many factors which directly or indirectly invoke communal practices between Buddhists and Muslims of Leh and Kargil. The root of communal divide is, largely political, they have an underlying political dimension. Furthermore, religion in Ladakh is often used as a mobilisation tool by politicians, both Muslims as well as Buddhists, which leads to suspicion between the two communities.

Key points of the essay include:

• considering the dim facts of Ladakh region, it is the foremost duty of all Ladakhis, especially political leaders and religious representatives to show resilience and kind-heartedness to accommodate each other's viewpoint in a democratic country like India
• youths of both Kargil and Leh should come together on a common platform to debate, discuss and argue on various developmental and other issues, so that the doubts could be cleared
• consultative and advisory council to discuss the unresolved and various outstanding issues for the common interest of Kargil and Leh is the need of the hour
• in the same way, both the LAHDC (Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council) of Kargil and Leh can develop common minimum development programmes - cooperation between the two will help them to develop a goal and vision for whole Ladakh

All things considered, the essay states that it is urgent to defeat the communalists and bring the change to restore the unique and glorious cultural identity of Ladakh region.