United They Stand, For A Divided Land

Similarly, in the Buddhist-dominated Leh district of Ladakh region, local units of all the political parties have been dissolved to set up a joint forum in the name of the Ladakh Union Territory Front (LUFT) that stands for a separation of the region from Kashmir and declaration of the area as a Union Territory. Interestingly, the front has won both the assembly seats in Leh uncontested as there was no one else to oppose their candidates. The ruling National Conference (NC) nominees refused to file their papers and, instead, extended their support to the front.

In a related development, the Ladakh Muslim Association (LMA), which was formed in the neighbouring Kargil, a Muslim-majority district, has supported the front on the plea of preventing the division of the Ladakhi population and has put up joint candidates against the NC nominees.

All these developments have come as a serious embarrassment to the NC leadership. Says state Congress chief Ghulam Nabi Azad, "This is proof of the total failure of the NC leadership, which has ruled the state for over three decades now. The party has been unable to carry the population of Jammu and Ladakh along with it and the result is that there are strong demands for the separation of Jammu and Ladakh from the state." They better be taken seriously, for even the moderates in both regions now seem to have been swayed by the hawks and appear to be falling in line.