Article 370

Buddhists in Ladakh were jubilant and celebrated the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, as also the announcement that the cold desert region spread over to 59, 146 sq. km with a population close to 300,000 has been given the Union Territory status, are now mulling whether they really wanted this kind of dispensation in which their political empowerment has been subjugated to the bureaucratic will. Ladakh is no ordinary region, strategically, it is very crucial for the defence of India on the borders with China, and Pakistan, and also houses the three theatres of war – Siachen glacier, Kargil mountains, and now the high-tension standoff in eastern Ladakh bordering China. The Chinese troops have maintained their aggressive posturing, provoking India to place an equal number of troops and wartime machinery in the mountains along the Line of Actual Control. the standoff has entered its third year and there are no signs of diplomacy and dialogue resolving the issue. The core content in Ladakh, which the government of India can ill-afford, is the resentment in the population over what they feel is denial of their rights to have more political power. Their source of resentment primarily is rooted in the stranglehold of the bureaucracy over the administration an what is being perceived as political disempowerment. As long as Ladakh was part of Jammu and Kashmir state, which was dismantled on August 5, 2019, Ladakhis- Buddhists and Muslims- had the right to their land, they had one Lok Sabha member and four MLAs to the erstwhile state legislative Assembly. Now the Ladakh UT has no legislative body, and the powers of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Councils, in Leh and Kargil, stand diminished. There are two bodies, which represent Ladakh Buddhists as also the Kargil Muslims – LAB- Leh Apex Body and Kargil Democratic Alliance – the two groups have raised the demand for statehood for Ladakh so that they could have their legislative bodies, which could also protect their rights to land, property, and employment – jobs for locals only. There are many complications involved in this demand, and the ministry of home affairs that directly deals with the issues of the UT of Ladakh, as it does with that of J&K affairs, cannot afford to grant statehood to Ladakh as that would intensify the demand for the restoration of the statehood to J&K, which has the unanimous support of all political parties, while the BJP is silent for its own political compulsions. The MHA is trying to avert confrontation with the people of Ladakh for that has strategic consequences. The Indian army is operating in the region because of the unflinching support of the people, and if the people adopt an agitational path, it will have its bearing on the security concerns, particularly when the military standoff with China, permanent deployment of troops in Siachen glacier as also at the forbidding Himalayan heights in Kargil. Given the situation across the LoC that now divides Ladakh between India and Pakistan, and at LAC, where Pakistan and China are working in close coordination with each other in Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian government is trying to seek a middle path to resolve the issues, but that has to be short of the statehood. That is where the matters are stuck up. And what cannot be ignored is that any concession to the people of Ladakh would draw comparisons with J&K, which is having its own concerns over the continuous delay in getting back its statehood, despite the promises made by Home Minister Amit Shah on the floor of the Parliament and outside of it. Therefore, it makes the task of the government of India quite difficult, and it would have to show up the middle path sooner than later to come out of the political and strategic dilemmas thrown by Ladakh, where the euphoria of getting the UT status is fading fast.

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