Ladakh: The thousands of Indians protesting in freezing cold - BBC News

The people of Ladakh, India's northern-most region, are demanding their own government and state.

7 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Special arrangementImage caption, Young people in the region say they are concerned about employment and the recruitment process for government jobs.In India's high-altitude Ladakh region, thousands are protesting in sub-zero temperatures. In 2019, the government fulfilled their longstanding demand for a region separate from Indian-administered Kashmir. But since 2020, they have frequently taken to streets, accusing the government of "betrayal" and unkept promises. Srinagar-based freelance journalist Auqib Javeed reports on what's changed.

Ladakh, India's northern-most region, is a desert inhabited by 300,000 people from the Muslim and Buddhist communities. The Leh region is dominated by Buddhists while the Kargil region is inhabited by Shia Muslims.

For decades, the Buddhist community demanded a separate region for its people, while those in Kargil wanted to be integrated with the Muslim-majority region of India-administered Kashmir.

In 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government revoked Article 370 of the constitution which accorded special status to the former state of Jammu and Kashmir and gave it significant autonomy. The state was then divided into two parts - Ladakh, and Jammu and Kashmir - and both are federally administered territories.

A year later, Kargil and Leh districts joined hands and formed the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), aimed at addressing people's concerns. The civil society groups have held massive rallies against the federal government.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-68573281

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