Amid ‘discontent’, panel seeks security for Buddhists in Kargil

Arteev Sharma
Tribune News Service
Jammu, August 25

Amid simmering discontent among the people of Kargil district against the grant of union territory (UT) status to the Ladakh region, the Ladakh Buddhist Association has written a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah seeking immediate measures to ensure safety and security of the minority Buddhist community in the Muslim-dominated Kargil.

The association, a powerful religious organisation that spearheaded struggle for the grant of UT status to Ladakh, has alleged that some organisations and their leaders had been making “undesirable and objectionable statements to infuse communal hatred among the people of Kargil against the Buddhist community and there was an immediate need to ensure the safety and security of Buddhists living in Kargil district”.

The fresh differences between Leh and Kargil districts have surfaced after some social organisations and individuals recently made “obnoxious remarks” against Buddhist communities which demanded a separate district for the Buddhist-dominated area in Kargil.

“There are negative and jingoistic statements coming from disloyal people of Kargil district who are against the abrogation of Articles 370, 35A and granting of UT status to Ladakh. Out of sheer ignorance and arrogance, the people of Kargil wish to be with the Valley for which we have no objection since in a democratic country like India, every individual has the freedom of choice,” P T Kunzang, association president, said in a letter.

“They are trying their level best to flare up the issue by giving it a communal colour. These people are bent upon misleading the people of Kargil district and brainwash them for their own interest and political mileage by giving open threats to the Buddhists of Ladakh,” Kunzang wrote. He claimed the demand was a “precautionary measure” and sought a strict warning to people trying to create communal wedge, saying they should be warned to stay away from making obnoxious and abhorrent statements that would instigate communal tension in the region.

Pertinently, Kargil district, excluding the Buddhist community, had vehemently opposed grant of UT status to Ladakh on August 5 and thereafter observed a shutdown for several days. Kargil leaders have sought a meeting with the Union Home Ministry officials to deliberate upon the issue.