Ladakh, a fragile region, needs autonomy

Source– The post is based on the article “Ladakh, a fragile region, needs autonomy” published in The Hindu on 15th February 2023.

Syllabus: GS2- Devolution of power and finances up to local level

Relevance– Regional political issues

News– The residents of Ladakh are agitating to pursue their demand for special constitutional Status.

What is the reason behind the grievances of people in Ladakh?

Political status– Their real need for relatively free and autonomous functioning and substantial local employment generation is still not fulfilled.

For 1,000 years, Ladakh was an independent kingdom before being integrated into Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). The memory of this long history has not been erased. It is now being ruled from New Delhi.

Since 1995, Ladakh has had an AHDC with the aim of enabling locally determined development. However, decision-making was mostly dominated by Srinagar and Delhi.

In 2019, the Indian government had announced that Ladakh would get special constitutional status providing it autonomy.

Before the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council election, Sixth Schedule status was promised to the region, similar to some parts of north-east India. This promise is yet to be fulfilled.

Developmental model– Ladakh is a sensitive ecosystem. Cultures and livelihoods are sensitive to the fragility of ecosystems that cannot bear heavy human activity.

High-altitude pastoralism, agriculture, and trade have been the mainstays of Ladakhi economy and society for centuries. Administrators appointed from Delhi do not comprehend the need of such a landscape.

Ladakh is already groaning under infrastructure development, intense armed forces presence, and excessive tourism.

Since Ladakh became a UT, there is even more focus on an exploitative ‘development’ path. There is enormous commercial interest for mining, tourism, hydropower, and other natural resources.

Ladakh already faces serious problems of landslides, erosion, solid waste and effluents, disturbance to wildlife, and cordoning of common lands for development projects.

What is the way forward to fulfil the demand of Ladakhi people?

There are opportunities for Ladakh and Delhi to work together. A Hill Council decision for Ladakh agriculture to become fully organic could be backed by the Central government. Communities could be assisted to claim and operationalise collective rights over grasslands using the Forest Rights Act.

Tourism could be fully oriented towards community-run, ecologically sensitive visitation.

A constitutional status that enables locally determined pathways, driven by a sensitive local population is the need of the day.