Sir,
Turtuk area in Nubra tehsil of district Leh, a cluster of few villages liberated from Pakistan domination during Indo-Pak war of 1971 became an integral part of J&K and an integral part of the country. The area is situated at the LOC adjacent to Siachen glacier. Earlier the area was under administration of POK in Khapulu region of northern area. The people belong to Balti community.The main source of livelihood depends on small scale farming and with army.
The people here face numerous problems. One of them is quite emotional. Due to war in 1971, the people here got separated from each other. Many families also got divided. Some now live on the other side of LOC, in POK and some on this side.
Sometime back, the Government of India and Government of Pakistan reached on an agreement under which many routes were reopened to allow divided families to meet each other at various points. But this area was not brought under this ambit.
In Kargil it is Kargil-Skardu route and in Leh it is Turtuk-Khapulu route which have not been opened so far. By opening it the divided families can unite if only for a few moments. This way the pain of separation can get reduced. The constitution of Jammu and Kashmir has reserved for people in POK. Out of this the seat can be alloted to this area. By doing so, the people can raise their voice at appropriate fora.
The region is quite remote and the people here face many problems which need to be redressed by the both the Governments-State and Central.
Yours etc…..
Gh. Hussain
Turtuk Nubra, Ladakh
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