Thupstan Chhewang
I would like Ladakh to be truly cosmopolitan, a great centre of learning, symbol of harmony between Buddhist and Shias (who share the same history and ethnicity )and a land of plenty and prosperity capable of making a handsome contribution to the national kitty instead of eating in to eat as part of the state which is exposed to the charge of perpetually holding a begging bowl in front of the center. The same time I seek stronger bonds between Ladakh and the rest of the country-in total agreement with each other in all respects.
At present, appallingly, Ladakh gets political and administrative treatment inconsistent with its justified aspirations . Merely because it is on the other side of the Himalayas it is at time consider out of sight and hence out of mind. Ladakh has sparse population is an argument that is often advanced to scuttle its need for funds required for development. Almost deliberately it is ignored that it has two districts Leh and Kargil spread over a vast area. It is also overlook that time after time Ladakh has been called upon to stand up against the evil designs of China and Pakistan and that it is a bastion of Buddhism and some of the prominent schools of Shia Muslims.
I believe that our social, political and economic order must be best on individual and collective self respect ;it should be the one which is just and beneficent and effectively manages its own affairs and provides avenues for mental emancipation and economic growth of one and all while being intensely loyal to the country .There has to be a happy ,tranquil, prosperous and pulsating Ladakh Which inspires and assures the nation that it has a fully awake and well equipped sentinel.
Is this asking for too much?
The pre-requisite to creating a dispensation like this is a vibrant and informed environment. Knowledge is the real power in today’s world. It can be achieved through sustain formal and informal education and experience.
From a secluded spot about 60 years ago Ladakh has indeed come along way .With the spread of education the literacy rate has shot up both in Leh and Kargil districts surpassing the national average. our younger generation has shown exemplary adaptability to emerging trends in almost every field. They are better aware of the goings on across the globe. There participation in social media is heartening and shows their thirst for debate and and information. The wholehearted response by the people of all ages to two Ladakh-centric groups initiated by my former political colleague, Mr Tsewang Rigzin, on Facebook is a case in point. It proves that they are trying to move with the times; there differing views at times over important issues are healthy sign that they want to sharpen one another’s wits.
This is despite the fact that they don’t have much -needed facilities at their doorstep. Thousands of our boys and girls have to perforce travel long distances for higher and professional education in Jammu, New Delhi and other places in the country and even abroad. I myself have studied in Varanasi and New Delhi.This puts tremendous emotional and financial burden on them and their families that bear with every suffering for the sake of their children .Why should they not be given access to such basic amenities on their home turf? Their zeal and penchant for exploring new horizons of learning should have motivated the concerned authorities by now to set up a central university apart from technical institutions in Ladakh.
It is a pity that Ladakh is denied its due share every time a major new educational institution is conceived in Jammu and Kashmir.J&K has two central universities against one each in other states. This is an exceptional bonus.Why does not Ladakh have one of them?
Much type is being created these days about the decision to open four new medical colleges in the state. Again, Ladakh, with two districts,does not get even one of them while smaller places having obvious links with the politicians in power have been accommodated. It is strange that even the twin districts of Rajori and Poonch and such convenient and widely known districts like Udhampur,which is thickly populated and is the headquarters of the Northern Command,have been ignored.
Does it surprise anyone that Doda district ,which has already been given a campus of the Jammu University,is again a beneficiary ?The Union Health Minister ,Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is patting himself on the back for this bonanza,belongs to Doda and if he has ever look beyond it is only to further his political designs and not for the benefit of the people at large or the state .One factor for selecting district for opening these medical colleges is said to be their remoteness.
Is this a convincing argument? Is there any district which is more secluded than Leh or Kargil-it needs to be underline again and again that they are across the Himalayas-or for that matter Punch and Rajouri although both are in the picturesque lap of the Pir-Panjal?
Leh has a great center of learning in the Central Institute of Buddhist Studies?(CIBS). It is generally acknwoledged that the C.I.B.S. is doing excellent work. Yet, it is nor given the status of a fullfledged university leave alone a deemed university.
Who is responsible for this state of affairs?Does this bear further elaboration ?
What should be our response in Leh and Kargil to such blatant discrimination?
I firmly believe that we should keep doing what we are doing .We should not give up our pursuit for knowledge whatever the emotional and monetary cost involve in the exercise .We have strained ourselves hard and should leave no stone unturned to keep honing our minds and skills to perfection.
Like the Mahabharata hero Arjuna we should focus on our target. Our struggle for self -esteem has been on several fronts .We have shown the courage to settle in unfamiliar surroundings, to study in schools and colleges far away from the comfort of our homes from an early age. We have staged demonstration in Leh, Kargil, Jammu and New Delhi to convey our strong disapproval of the status of second class citizens thrust upon us we have maintain our sense of equanimity and should not lost it whatever the provocation .We have not allowed the militants or anyone question Jammu and Kashmir accession to India to find sanctuary in Ladakh. We have relied behind our armed forces whenever attacked by China and Pakistan in our part of the country-most recently in 1999 Kargil war.
Our effort is bound to succeed sooner rather than later and fetch us the political empowerment we have been a looking for a long time .The key to solving our problems is in being political master of our own destiny.
As a cog in a bib machine comprising all of us in Leh especially I have fought for it all along. In this struggle some of our colleagues have parted company with us sacrificing the wider cause at the altar of political expediency. Such betrayers may succeed for the short term but history tells us that only those who steadfastly hold to their ideologies ll have the last word.
Our goal is to get Union Territory Status for Ladakh and, regardless of the price we may have to pay, we should not give up the pursuit. As a first step we goat and Autonomous Hill Council (LADC, Leh) in august 1995 (Kargil adopted the model in 2003 and has a separate LAHDC)and i was fortunate to have been elected its first Chief Executive Councilor (CEC).
Clearly the LAHDC is not enough as a governing apparatus to address our hopes. At times -and i have experienced it myself as the CEC-the council is no better than toothless tiger as it does not have reasonable control over the area and matters which are otherwise said to be under its jurisdiction. It continues to be bypassed in matters of land, finance, police and the appointment of staff to the extent that a pliable deputy commissioner, who is the chief executive officer if the council ,and the district police chief ,can act as agents of partisan Chief Minister/state government to undermined the authority of the local selected leaders.
Despite being incharge of the council in Leh we have been harassed and our colleagues thrashed by the police and put behind bars just because we refused to sacrifice our interest to toe the political line of unscrupulous people controlling liver of power in the state.
The formation of the UT will help us of the agony of being under a leadership in Srinagar which is lost in a labyrinth of conflicting political ideologies.
Our stance is unequivocal; that we are part of India and in no way we will allow this bond to be weakened .For us the accession of Jammu and Kashmir with India is a settle issue once and for. We have made this point abundantly clear at seminars in Pakistan too.
We have natural resources in abundance to manage our economy -from Pashmina goat to seabuckthorn apart from apricot. Ladakh is the only region of the country through which the mighty Indus flows reminding us of a great civilization. Kashmiri artisans have lent their exquisite embroidery touch to our Pashmina earning global respect for their art and our basic material .From them we are learning a lot. China and Germany have found multiple uses of seabuckthorn. In comparison we are gradually discovering the virtues of the wonder berry with the help of Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) of the Defense Ministry.
Ladakh is an idyllic land studded with big pastures, shining streams and huge glaciers. Little surprise than that it has gradually emerged as one of the top tourist attractions of the world. Domestic and foreign tourist have made us famous and contribute to our financial system. A large number of hotels and restaurants, serving the choicest dishes available in the rest of the world ,bear testimony to this phenomenon. Kargil is too joining the race after lagged behind Leh initially.
However, the luxuries that we are able to provide are limited to half of the year-from many to October. For the remaining period, we are not able to rise to the occasion. We need to fill in this vacuum and while it may not be entirely possible to stand up against the harshness of the winter, it should be our endeavor to make the interiors of our hotels and guest houses at least more comfortable- a beginning has been made by some of using this direction but clearly we have a long way to go.
We are lucky in the sense that the sun if it comes out can be very soothing despite the extremely low temperatures in winter. It is well known that Ladakh is the only place where one can get sunburn and frostbite at the same time .We have to find a balance between the two for the comfort of sightseers.
Our biggest strength is that all of us love physical work and tend to do our jobs with our own hands whatever our educational qualifications .We do not regard any job as menial .Our womenfolk, in particular, play an inspirational role in this respect. It is little surprising that a girl from Ladakh was the first woman pilot of J&K. Our respect for the dignity of labor is thus natural and an enabled us to overcome adverse climatic and topographic conditions.
At the LAHDC (Leh) we have utilized some of the nature’s assets. We have encouraged pooling of our resources by forming cooperative societies in a few fields. This has strengthened confidence of our coming generations that they can indeed plan their development. The UT will help us scale new heights. This is our faith and conviction.
With the passage of time i have come to believe that the Union Government should set up a Trans – Himalayan development authority to focus on the entire territory from Leh to Arunachal Pradesh – a distance of about 1800 kilometers.
By and large this region has the same features although it is divided among different states. Three spectacular identical aspects are: (a) Bhoti language, (b) Buddhism and (c) border mainly with Tibet (under Chinese occupation).It has fragile ecology with high mountains and natural streams in the midst of arid mountains. A unified authority should harness the natural waters and other local products for ushering in economic prosperity across the Himalayas.
It should also be made responsible for promoting tourism and developing the necessary infrastructure with the objective in view. Under the existing dispensation the concerned state governments look after regions as parts of the whole.
The tans – Himalayan authority could take over some of their functions without impinging upon their territorial jurisdiction but with their active involvement for formulating and implementing common schemes. The former Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ji, had such authority in his mind. He had thought of it as a body to preserve the ecology of the region while making sure about its speedy and sustainable development.
Whenever there is mention of the Bhoti language one has to reiterate the long – pending demand for its inclusion in the English Schedule of the Constitution. It should be met without delay. The uniqueness of Bhoti is that while it has a contemporary flavor and is spoken by millions across the country, especially in sensitive border areas, it is believe to be the sole repository of the ancient Indian literature and scriptures rescued by Tibetan scholars after it was destroyed by Muslim invaders in the once – revered school of learning like Nalanda. The scholar from Tibet had translated the original document and taken them back home – their writings have since been received.
As far as Buddhism is concerned, His Holiness The Dalai Lama has rightly described it has the difference line of India. The followers of the religions are spread all over from Leh to Aurunachal Pradesh and their patriotism is legendary.
The space of development depends on better connectivity and communication.
Undoubtedly Ladakh will receive a further boost once the tunnel across the mighty Zoji-la pass is completed and the route to the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage in Tibet is open from Leh. The tunnel will ensure trouble free journey on the Srinagar- Kargil- Leh route, particularly during winters when it is closed. The yatra to Kailash Mansorovar has an easier and possible motor able road from Leh in comparison with existing main route from Uttarkhand which is challenging and thus can simultaneously continue to be the trekkers delight.
I am surprised that the plans to provide rail link to Leh and Kargil have been dropped. It was announced that the railway would be bought to Leh from Himachal Pradesh and to Kargil from Srinagar.These were conceived to be national projects but have been abandoned even before a brick has been laid. Kargil is deprived of air services also at present except from the planes provided by the Army as a goodwill gestures.
We should never lose sight of our needs, problems and goals. We should not compromise with our values either .We should keep working hard for sharpening our individual skills for the benefit of our surroundings .If we do not act we will not be taken seriously by others. A Japanese proverb leads us to the right path: “vision without action is a day dream. Action without vision is a nightmare.”
(The author is BJP National Executive Member and a former Member Parliament from Ladakh).
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