Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Dec 10: During the ongoing parliamentary session, MP Ladakh Jamyang Tsering Namgyal raised the plight of the divided families residing in Lato, Hardass and Hunderman villages in Kargil District and Chulungkha, Turtuk, Teakshi and Thang villages in Leh District of the newest formed Union Territory of India and Kharmang, and Khapulu villages in Pakistan Occupied part of Ladakh, respectively.
Raising this issue in the Lok Sabha, the young Member of Parliament from Ladakh said, “It is very unfortunate that the families residing in Lato, Hardass and Hunderman villages in Kargil District and Chulungkha, Turtuk, Teakshi and Thang villages in Leh district have been separated from each other due to division of border between India and Pakistan after the ceasefire in 1947-48 and Indo-Pak war in 1971-1972.
The MP said, “I, as the youngest Public Representative in this House of the people from Ladakh, urge the Government to urgently take up the situation and address another historical issue of these divided families by setting up a meeting point in between Thang village in Ladakh of India and Khapulu village of Pakistan Occupied Ladakh and let them meet at least once in three or six months.”
He said that due to ceasefire of 1947 and Indo-Pak war of 1971-1972, the residents of the border villages were separated due to the changing geopolitics of the region. The population of these ethnic groups is scattered in neighboring regions due to a long history of trading and inter-marriage, he said, adding, every time India and Pakistan went to war, these groups felt the heat due the proximity of their villages to the India-Pakistan border.
“War constantly looms over daily life in this region, and it has significantly altered the socio-cultural fabric and regional economics-bringing an end to old trade routes and long-established family ties of nomadic and pastoral communities living in the region. Added to the hardship of separation and loss of trade is the remote and hostile environment of the high Himalayas,” the MP said.
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