If Ladakh is known as a land of superstition and ignorance, it also has the reputation of being a land of honest people. Rising from the tropical  plains  near  sea  level,  the  typography  of  the  state  rises  in Ladakh,  to  altitudes  between  11,000  and  20,000  ft.  and  above.

Jammu and Kashmir recognizes as many as seven regional languages (including Ladakhi).

Political Upheaval

The  partition  of  India  changes  the  geography  of  Ladakh. After communist revolution in China, 800 miles of its northern border (350 miles with Tibet and 450 miles with Sinkiang) also became alive, exposing the Buddhist population of Ladakh to a secessionist appeal by its co-religionists from across border. When the armies of India and Pakistan agreed to cease-fire under a United Nations resolution on January 1, 1949, more than 32,000 square miles of the territory of the state was left with Pakistan. It included the northern frontier areas  of  Gilgit,  Skardu  Tehsil  of  Ladakh.  Thus  with  the  state’s accession to India in October 1947, its old regional, communal and class  balances  were  completely  upset. The  political  power  shifted from the Jammu based Maharaja and his feudal class to the Kashmir- based middle class leadership of the National Conference.

Ladakh’s area is double that of Jammu and Kashmir combined.

But its population is just over one lakh and it is scattered over the region’s 239 villages in area of 96,000 sq.km. a vast arid desert of bare crag and granite dust. Most of the people live around the valleys of the Indus and its tributaries like the Shayok, Zanskar and Nubra, at  an  altitude  varying  from  11000ft.  to  17,000  ft.  Some  of  the mountain peaks are as high as 25,000 ft.

Ladakh has the largest concentration of Buddhists in India. Their number is about 55,000, mostly inhabiting Leh and Zanskar Tehsils.Muslims,  who  number  about  49,000,  are  concentrated  in  Kargil Tehsil. Most of them are Shias.

Ladakhis belong to the Tibetan race, with an admixture of the Aryans. There are pockets of Balti and Dardic races also. The higher altitudes of Rupshu are inhabited by the nomadic tribe of Changpas.

The political and emotional isolation of the region was broken by  two  events.  The  first  was  the  Pakistani  attack  in  1947  which directly threatened this citadel of Buddhism. The people then became conscious  of  the  bigger  entity  of  India  from  which  they  sought protection. The second was the Chinese action to end the autonomy of  Tibet  in  1959,  resulting  in  the  flight  of  the  Dalai  Lama  and thousands of Tibetan Buddhist to India. Along with the Dalai Lama the centre of loyalty of Ladakhi Buddhists finally shifted to India.

Ladakh’s Rapid Progress

It  was  during  the  Sino-Indian  war  in  1962  that  the  strategic importance of Ladakh was really realized and national attention was focused  on  the  needs  of  the  area  and  its  people.  Therefore,  the development activities were accelerated.

In  the Third  plan,  a  separate  allocation  was  made  for  the  first time for Ladakh. In the five years of the plan, a sum of `144 lakhs was  spent  on  various  schemes.  The  tempo  of  development  was speeded up so fast that within the last five years of the annual outlay increased to the level of a crore of rupees. For the next year `1.56 crores have been earmarked for the plan of the district, which comes to  roughly  `150  per  head  per  year  and  is  perhaps  the  highest  per capita  development  expenditure  in  the  country.  Within  the  last decade, the economic, political and social life of the district has been transformed almost beyond recognition.

The construction of Srinagar-Leh road, crossing over the Zojila pass  at  11,000  ft.  has  reduced  the  distance  from  traditional 19 marching days to only one day. A number of approach roads have opened up the interior also. Work is in progress on the 95 mile Leh- Nubra and the 150 mile Kargil-Zanskar roads.

Qualitative changes have meanwhile taken place in the economy of  the  region.  Its  agriculture,  which  was  confined  the  barley  and pulses in about 45,000 acres, now includes wheat and vegetables, thanks to increased avaibility of fertilizers and irrigation facilities.

Rapid strides have also been made in education. There is now at least one school in every village. Out of them ten are secondaryschools.  Between  1961  and  1971,  the  literacy  rate  in  Ladakh increased from 8.31 to 13.50 percent. The rate of increased in female literacy at 22.2 percent is even more striking.

Efficient Administration

In  addition  to  the  employment  generated  by  the  development activities  of  the  State  Government,  the  army  employees  a  large number of workers on construction of border roads. Due to shortage of labour and attractive wages, women are also working on civil and military projects. Ladakh now has efficient administrative machinery.

Its traditional secular and spiritual hierarchy has been undermined by the newly educated class, by the process of politicization and the induction of modern administrators.

As new avenues of social important and economic activity are opening up, the traditional charm of the monastic life is losing its appeal, with the result that fresh recruitment to the ranks of lamas and chomos (nuns) has fallen very low. The much publicized custom of polyandry, too, has become almost a thing of the past.

Being  govern  from  a  distance,  through  a  minister  for  Ladakh Affairs  in  the  Kashmir  government,  the  administration  appears  to form a colonial pattern so that local people and leaders do not feel to  be  their  own  master.  It  is  the  pride  of  the  ancient  people, with the  distinct  history,  culture,  literature,  language,  race  and  religion that is being undermined by outside modernizers.

Corrupt Officials

The  scandals  of  the  Ranbir  canal,  which  sank  as  soon  as  it  was completed, and the Srinagar-Leh road, where all the engineers on work  were  suspended  on  corruption  charges,  indicate  that  not  all money out of the central allocation is wisely spent. The network of family planning clinics in so sparsely populated region further shows that the policy makers not only have no contact with the people but are also completely out of touch with the local realities.

(The writings of two veteran journalist of Jammu and Kashmir Balraj Puri and Shamim Ahmad Shamim on Ladakh appeared in The Illustrated Weekly of India, Annual 1973 under the caption Jammu and Kashmir and here only the Ladakh part of the article is reproduced).