Kargil leaders slam Ladakh district restructuring as bid to divide region along religious lines
Kargil: Leaders in Kargil have expressed deep resentment over Ladakh’s recent district restructuring, calling it discriminatory and an attempt to divide the region along religious lines.
According to Kashmir Media Service, on April 27, Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena approved five new districts — Nubra, Sham, Changthang, Zanskar, and Drass — raising Ladakh’s total from two to seven.
Kargil leaders noted that out of seven districts, only Kargil and Drass are Muslim-majority while five are Buddhist-majority. They said this ignores Ladakh’s 2011 Census data showing 46.40% Muslims and 39.65% Buddhists, calling the move “deeply skewed.”
MP Mohammad Haneefa Jan said a community feels isolated after long-pending demands for district status to Sankoo-Suru and Shakar-Chiktan were ignored. CEC Dr Jaffer Akhone termed the decision “imbalanced and discriminatory.”
KDA leader Sajjad Kargili said the rejig looks less like reform and more like a “calculated attempt to fragment Ladakh’s united voice” for 6th Schedule safeguards and statehood. While welcoming Drass and Zanskar’s inclusion, he said ignoring Sankoo-Suru and Shakar-Chiktan defies “regional sensitivities and equitable representation.”
“Such actions risk deepening divisions,” Kargili warned, urging district status for the excluded areas. “Ladakh’s strength is unity — any attempt to divide it along communal lines must be resisted.”
