The abrogation of Article 370 has divided the opposition. Some Congress and Samajwadi Party (SP) MPs feel that striking down 370 and 35(A) is in line with the mood of the nation and to go against this national mood is to betray peoples’ trust. What is ironic however is that the debate on Article 370 continues to revolve only around Kashmir! Those like Ghulam Nabi Azad who once held the reins of governance in Kashmir and who ostensibly represent the elitist voices of the valley are so invested in their own victimhood that they did not once bother about the periphery called Ladakh – an integral part of the map of J&K but a poor cousin when it comes to allocation of funds, creation of districts and job creation. This was pointed out by no less than the BJP MP from Ladakh, Tsering Namgyal in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. In a frontal attack on the two ruling families the Abdullahs and the Muftis, Tsering Namgyal said that the members of these two families believe they are ‘ruling’ over their ancestral property.
Namgyal made a clear distinction between ‘Raj’ (rule) and ‘Shasan’ (governance) and said that in a democracy the word ‘rule’ is anachronistic. Referring to the complete alienation of Ladakh from the developmental basket of Jammu and Kashmir, Namgyal said that eight districts were created in 2008 when Ghulam Nabi Azad was CM. Kashmir got four districts and Jammu fought for and got the other four. Ladakh did not get a single district. There is no job creation in Ladakh and most Kashmiris have no idea of where Kargil is and what people there actually want. Namgyal informed the House that when Rajnath Singh visited Lakadh as Home Minister the only demand of the people there was for a Union Territory.
Development in J&K is at best lopsided. Kashmir has three universities and a National Institute of Technology and Jammu region has four universities besides an IIT and an Indian Institute of Mass Communication. There are also two central universities in J&K. Ladakh which is the region’s largest Lok Sabha constituency in India in terms of area and covers more than 53 per cent of the State’s total area has only a couple of degree colleges in Kargil and Leh districts and not a single medical, engineering or vocational institution for its young students. It was only in February 2019 that Prime Minister Modi laid the foundation for the first University of Ladakh. That the desperation of the people of Ladakh does not inconvenience the rulers in Kashmir speaks volumes of the alienation of a vital section of this erstwhile state now bifurcated into two Union Territories.