Ladakh and the Partition of India: How Ladakh (Re) Shaped after Partition

Abstract

The paper tries to explore the convoluted socio-cultural history of Ladakh in the aftermath of the Partition of India. There has been less debate and discussion in academia about the impact of Partition on the Ladakh region. Many discourses consider Ladakh as a ‘mystic ’and ‘isolated ’place which had not been much influenced by the Partition of India. However, this has not been the case. The paper tries to locate the impact of Partition on the Ladakh province that has resulted in the fragmentation of Ladakhi society on communal basis leading to the (false) consciousness among the people, belonging to the two communities, i.e., Buddhists and Muslims. Ladakhi society before the Partition of India was a testimony to a heterogeneous milieu where the different communities, especially the majority of Buddhists and Muslims, lived in peace and harmony. This paper demonstrates the acuteness of antagonisms between the two communities that emerged specifically after the Partition of India and its causal tendencies on the contemporary Ladakhi society and its polarization due to political and social pressures. The paper studies some of the travelogues on Ladakh by different travellers to unravel the politics of Partition; primarily the communal influences on the Ladakhi society that has resulted in cultural conflicts and regional rivalries.