Disquiet grows in key Ladakh bodies as a new Buddhist outfit seeks role in talks with Centre: What is Voice of Buddhist Ladakh?

The LAB, an umbrella group of civil society organisations from Leh, and the KDA, its counterpart in Kargil district, have dismissed the formation of the VBL, alleging that the BJP was behind this outfit to “divide” Ladakh’s Buddhists and “drive a wedge between Leh and Kargil”.

Ladakh is a sparsely populated Union Territory (UT) comprising two distinct regions – Leh and Kargil. According to the 2011 Census, in Ladakh’s total 2.74 lakh population, Muslim account for 46.4%, while Buddhists make up 39.65%. Hindus form around 12% of the population. While Kargil is Muslim majority, Leh is dominated by Buddhists. For decades, the two districts have had distinct political and social aspirations, often competing against each other.

The demand for statehood and guarantees under the Constitution’s Sixth Schedule for Ladakh, after the Centre abrogated Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and carved out the region as a separate UT, has brought Leh and Kargil districts and its major social and political forces together for a joint struggle.

The LAB is an amalgam of four socio-political organisations – the Ladakh Buddhist Association, Anjuman Moin-ul-Islam, Christian Association and Ladakh Gonpa Association – besides leading political figures from the region.

Though the Ladakh Buddhist Association, besides the Ladakh Gonpa Association, has been advocating the interests of Buddhists in Ladakh for over seven decades and has significantly shaped the region’s politics, the VBL now alleges that the LAB does not properly represent the “sentiments of Buddhists” as it seeks a role in the talks with the Centre.

Buddhists under-represented

“Buddhists are under-represented in the HPC,” VBL convener Skarma Namtak told The Indian Express. “We remained silent for some time but we have lost trust in the LAB now. We will talk to the MHA on our own.”

The HPC has seven members each from Leh and Kargil. The chief executive councillors of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils are also its members, besides the chief secretary of Ladakh and the Intelligence Bureau director.

While Namtak says there are a “large number of intellectual people” behind the new initiative, only his name as the VBL convener has been made public.

“They (intellectuals) are behind us but they don’t want to come out in the open,” Namtak said. “We have been telling this for quite some time that the processions and sit-ins or the slogans of zindabad and murdabad are not a solution.”

On the allegations made by the LAB and the KDA that the VBL was an alleged BJP proxy, Namtak said, “Of course, they will say it. Because they don’t have anything else to say. We are not against any organisation, we just want to safeguard Buddhist interests.”

The Ladakh BJP’s leaders, including its president Tashi Gyalson, refrained from making any comments on the LAB-KDA’s allegations.

Last September, violent protests erupted in Leh during a sit-in demanding statehood for Ladakh. While four people were killed, the administration booked and arrested eminent environmental activist Sonam Wangchuk under the National Security Act (NSA) and shifted him to a Jodhpur jail, where he has remained imprisoned.

A day after announcing the VBL’s formation, Namtak and its two other members met Ladakh Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Kavinder Gupta. “We informed (L-G) about the formation of a new body,” Namtak said. “We told (L-G) that HPC talks are expected around January 10, but before that the sentiments of Buddhists should be also considered.”

The LAB and the KDA have taken a dim view of the development. “It looks like a BJP creation to create division among us,” alleged Chering Dorjey Lakruk, vice chairperson of the LAB, while speaking to The Indian Express. “They are disgruntled elements. They are giving such communal statements and nobody is acting against them. If it was done by our people, the police would have already detained them,” he alleged, adding that the “VBL wants to create division among Buddhists of Ladakh and between Leh and Kargil regions”.

Sajad Kargili of the KDA termed the VBL a “fringe element”. “They have no connection to the ground and their only aim is to divide Ladakhi people,” he said. “Buddhists are being properly represented by the Ladakh Buddhist Association and Ladakh Gonpa Association. In fact, the Apex Body was the concept of Buddhists in Leh.”