Why Delhi Still Misreads What Ladakh Wants
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[*]Viewing Ladakh's demand for statehood in isolation is a mistake Delhi has made before.
[*]The LAHDC, since 2019, includes Kargil, but that does not sum up Ladakhi aspirations.
[*]Ladakh has historically sought complete separation from Jammu and Kashmir.
In 1994-95, Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao invited late Balraj Puri, public intellectual and an expert on Jammu and Kashmir, to seek his views on the border state at a time when militancy was ravaging the state. During their discussions, Puri pointed out that the newly created Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) applied only to Leh district, and that this would have negative repercussions on the country. The Prime Minister, taken aback, remarked that he had assumed the LAHDC covered the entire Ladakh region, including Kargil. He immediately turned to his officials, who confirmed that Puri was correct.
This brief exchange vividly illustrates the extent of ignorance about Ladakh that prevailed even at the highest levels of decision-making in New Delhi.
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