People of Ladakh rely on glacier water, which is already melting, and any outside influx could further disrupt the region’s fragile ecology.
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ANI
Amid concerns that external investment could threaten Ladakh’s local economy and its fragile ecology, the business community in Ladakh has announced a policy of non-cooperation with the outside investors.
Last week, various economic, political and religious organisations passed a resolution, calling for non-cooperation with 11 properties leased out to outsiders.
P T Kunzang, chairman of Ladakh Travel Trade Alliance (LTTA) told businessline that the properties included hotels, resorts and camps leased out by the locals to non-native business entities.
“This is the fifth resolution in a row since 2020, and it is not directed against the government but against individuals leasing their properties to outside investors,” said Kunzang.
He added that many of these properties had been leased for over 50 years.
Besides business and religious bodies, the resolution was seconded by political parties, including the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), Indian National Congress (INC) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
According to the resolution, in recent years, external commercial interests and large corporations have increasingly sought to gain control over Ladakh’s economic sector.
“Such developments pose a direct threat to Ladakh’s fragile ecology, limited investment opportunities and already sparse employment opportunities—ultimately endangering the livelihood of local Scheduled Tribe population,” reads the resolution.
Kunzang said that the people of Ladakh rely on glacier water, which is already melting, and any outside influx could further disrupt the region’s fragile ecology.
Post abrogation voices
Following the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and the creation of two federally administered territories—Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh—the people of the cold desert region have been consistently demanding constitutional safeguards for land and jobs, inclusion under the Sixth Schedule, and a legislature.
Two influential bodies—Leh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA)—held multiple rounds of talks with the Ministry of Home Affairs regarding their demands.
Sajjad Kargili, an influential socio-political leader from Kargil said that the Ladakh was grappling with ballooning unemployment.
He said the domicile issue was a sensitive matter, and that both the LAB and KDA had taken a collective stand to set 1989 as the cutoff year for issuing domicile certificates.
“The situation has become alarming for a region like Ladakh, where the population is sparse, especially in light of reports that over 83,000 domicile certificates have been issued to non-locals in Jammu and Kashmir over the past two years,” Kargili said.
He said that when a window is opened for outsiders, “it becomes a serious concern for a place like Ladakh.”
Kargili added that the people of Ladakh were united in their demand for domicile safeguards.
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Published on April 14, 2025