Ladakh, the most ignored of J&K's 3 regions

Ladakh, one of the three J&K regions, continues to be the most ignored area in terms of development and educational activities. Thousands of Ladakhi students can be seen studying in the Jammu schools and colleges. A good number of them take coaching in tutorials for taking entrance exams of different professional colleges. Since 1949 when the sparsely populated Ladakh had expressed reservations and insecurities with regard to transfer of power from Dogra Maharaja Hari Singh to the Kashmir administration, the region continues to be ignored by the different state governments. When central universities were sanctioned for Kashmir and Jammu regions two years or so back, Ladakh was not even discussed for such a facility. Kashmir already has the prestigious Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), a prestigious hospital, and hence did not need AIIMS but the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre had ignored it while making the announcement in this regard. Why so much of discrimination with Ladakh region? It is so surprising to find that no prestigious health or educational institution has so far been sanctioned by the state or central governments for Ladakh. Though Ladakhis spend their winters in Jammu and majority of their children are studying in schools and colleges here, this does not mean that they don't deserve better health and educational facilities. Ladakhis are apparently unhappy over the step-motherly treatment meted out to them by the state and the central governments. They want their share of development to be given to them. The Ladakh region consists of a Buddhist-majority Leh district and Shia Muslim-majority Kargil. The widely shared perception among the Ladakhi Buddhists is that they have been treated as a 'colony' by the Kashmiris. The region had strong reservations and insecurities with regard to the transfer of power from Dogra Maharaja Hari Singh to a Kashmiri administration under Sheikh Abdullah in 1949. At that time, Ladakhis did not identify themselves with Kashmiris, and were further alienated by the iniquitous power structure and partisan policies of the Abdullah government.

The Constituent Assembly (dominated by Sheikh Abdullah's National Conference) had created a unitary state with a clear concentration of powers in the Valley. Sheikh Abdullah had painstakingly constructed a 'monolith structure' that emphasised "one organisation (National Conference), one leader (Shiekh Abdullah) and one programme (Naya Kashmir). What resulted in the name of 'majority rule' was, in fact, 'Kashmiri rule'. In the wake of the Pakistani raiders' attacks in 1947-48, the Muslim refugees in the Valley had received substantial state aid, but no resources were sanctioned for rehabilitating the Buddhist refugees of the Zanskar area, nor was any financial aid granted for reconstructing and restoring the gompas — Buddhist temples -- which were the life and soul of the local religion and culture.

The small relief provided by the Government of India was alleged to have never reached Zanskar. Even today, Ladakhis feel that they are not getting the share of state funds that should reach them as these reach the people of Kashmir and Jammu regions.