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India’s Ladakh is in the ‘stone age’. Envying China makes life harder
Chodon, 30, lives in Koyal, a village on the banks of Senge Zangbu, a tributary of the Indus River, which divides the Himalayan region of Ladakh into India and China. Tucked away in the rugged mountains, the village has a population of around 420 inhabitants, but lacks all the basic facilities of the 21st century. There is no electricity, no water supply. The nearest available doctor is 160km away. The roads are dusty.
Representing eight villages in the local development council, Chodon is an influential person. She is also a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but the condition of her area belies the nationalistic and pro-business agenda of her party, which has ruled India since 2014.
“Even the word development has not touched this area. We live like in the stone age,” said Chodon, who travelled to many Indian cities during her college years. “We still have to fetch water from the river.”
Life in Ladakh is tough because of its inhospitable geography and harsh weather. High-altitude mountains cover most of the region, and in some areas the temperature dips to -25 degrees Celsius in winter. Civilisation is spread out – the closest village to Koyal is 40km away and the major city and capital, Leh, is 260km west.
Since early May, tension has been brewing between India and China at their poorly demarcated border, after New Delhi accused the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of intruding into its territory. On June 15, the two armies had a violent face-off in the Galwan Valley – the first bloody confrontation between the two armies in more than four decades, with casualties on either side.
On the Indian side, the stand-off received a great deal of attention. Television channels dedicated prime-time slots to debates smacking of nationalistic fervour, with panellists screaming for an all-out war “to defend every inch of the territory”.
But back in the villages of Ladakh, people are more worried about the basic requirements of life. Added to this is the envy that emanates from the visible development on the other side of the border.
“Life on the Chinese side has no match,” Chodon said. “They have well-built structures, blacktopped roads. They have a 24-hour electricity supply.”
The villagers also crave clean water and education, she said, but the lack of electricity is a long-standing issue.
“We live in kutcha [mud-built] houses and the living conditions are miserable,” Chodan said, explaining that while the government provided the villagers with solar-powered lights five years ago, their illumination only lasts for a couple of hours.
“Moreover, the batteries have become weak over the years,” she added. “In winters the panels are rendered useless due to cloudy weather.”
The government has provided other villages with diesel-powered electric generators, but even these supply power for only three hours a night.
Telecommunication services are no better. People living close to army camps can make mobile phone calls because network towers are located inside or near the bases, but most of the villages lack a digital connection despite India’s smartphone boom over the past five years.
The people in these villages are traditionally shepherds, and made their living by rearing yaks as well as goats to produce the lucrative pashmina wool. They move from one place to another with their cattle, so they cannot enrol their children in the village school – most families send their children to boarding cities in the far-off cities.
Chodon is one of the few graduates in her area. She and her four siblings had to leave their village at a very young age for schooling in Leh; their mother accompanied them, while their father looked after cattle. Chodon eventually returned to the village after two decades with a degree in political science.
Over the years, the shepherds have complained that the Indian army is preventing them from venturing into pastoral land close to the border. “The restrictions have forced many shepherds to sell their cattle and find living in other sectors,” said Namgyal Durbuk, a politician from the opposition Congress party, who also rears cattle.
Chodon said the combination of these elements had seen many people leave their traditional way of life behind and move to urban areas in search of comfort. “Every year a number of families sell cattle, property and buy a car, they then move to towns and cities forever,” she said.
Last August, New Delhi unilaterally took away the Kashmir region’s autonomy and divided it into two directly controlled union territories – Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. Both China and Pakistan opposed the move at the United Nations.
The Kashmir region has been contested by India and Pakistan since the two countries became independent from British rule in 1947. As China controls a chunk of the disputed region, Beijing was among the countries who raised the issue at the United Stations after New Delhi revoked Kashmir’s autonomy. “India’s unilateral actions in Kashmir provoked China,” said Dr Sheikh Showkhat Hussain, formerly of the Central University of Kashmir.
The village of Sachukul is 130km to the east of Leh. Typical of Ladakh’s poor infrastructure despite its strategic importance, the road from the capital is mostly dust and gravel. It goes through the Changla Pass, some 5,360m above sea level, and those who travel on it are in danger of slipping into deep gorges.
“The government is not concerned about our well being. They should have constructed tunnels and made the roads better,” said Tashi Yakzee, an elected councillor from BJP who represents a group of villages around Sachukul.
These villages do not have a hospital. During medical emergencies, the patients are taken to Leh, and in some cases the patients die while they are ferried on the bumpy road. “A normal person falls ill when making a journey on the roads of Ladakh,” Chodon said.
In winters the villages are cut off from the cities for months due to heavy snowfall blocking the roads. The lack of development has birthed a rising discontent among the inhabitants in the region, with people drawing comparisons between India and China and saying the government has failed them.
Said Congress politician Durbuk, also a former regional councillor: “China has trains to the remotest parts of its country but our government cannot even construct a proper road here.”
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/poli...akh-stone-age-envying-china-makes-life-harder
- Villagers suffering in the harsh climate amid poor infrastructure and a lack of electricity can see across the Indus River to development on the Chinese side
- To residents, the lack of basic requirements belies the nationalistic and pro-business agenda of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party
Chodon, 30, lives in Koyal, a village on the banks of Senge Zangbu, a tributary of the Indus River, which divides the Himalayan region of Ladakh into India and China. Tucked away in the rugged mountains, the village has a population of around 420 inhabitants, but lacks all the basic facilities of the 21st century. There is no electricity, no water supply. The nearest available doctor is 160km away. The roads are dusty.
Representing eight villages in the local development council, Chodon is an influential person. She is also a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but the condition of her area belies the nationalistic and pro-business agenda of her party, which has ruled India since 2014.
“Even the word development has not touched this area. We live like in the stone age,” said Chodon, who travelled to many Indian cities during her college years. “We still have to fetch water from the river.”
Life in Ladakh is tough because of its inhospitable geography and harsh weather. High-altitude mountains cover most of the region, and in some areas the temperature dips to -25 degrees Celsius in winter. Civilisation is spread out – the closest village to Koyal is 40km away and the major city and capital, Leh, is 260km west.
Since early May, tension has been brewing between India and China at their poorly demarcated border, after New Delhi accused the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of intruding into its territory. On June 15, the two armies had a violent face-off in the Galwan Valley – the first bloody confrontation between the two armies in more than four decades, with casualties on either side.
On the Indian side, the stand-off received a great deal of attention. Television channels dedicated prime-time slots to debates smacking of nationalistic fervour, with panellists screaming for an all-out war “to defend every inch of the territory”.
But back in the villages of Ladakh, people are more worried about the basic requirements of life. Added to this is the envy that emanates from the visible development on the other side of the border.
“Life on the Chinese side has no match,” Chodon said. “They have well-built structures, blacktopped roads. They have a 24-hour electricity supply.”
The villagers also crave clean water and education, she said, but the lack of electricity is a long-standing issue.
“We live in kutcha [mud-built] houses and the living conditions are miserable,” Chodan said, explaining that while the government provided the villagers with solar-powered lights five years ago, their illumination only lasts for a couple of hours.
“Moreover, the batteries have become weak over the years,” she added. “In winters the panels are rendered useless due to cloudy weather.”
The government has provided other villages with diesel-powered electric generators, but even these supply power for only three hours a night.
Telecommunication services are no better. People living close to army camps can make mobile phone calls because network towers are located inside or near the bases, but most of the villages lack a digital connection despite India’s smartphone boom over the past five years.
The people in these villages are traditionally shepherds, and made their living by rearing yaks as well as goats to produce the lucrative pashmina wool. They move from one place to another with their cattle, so they cannot enrol their children in the village school – most families send their children to boarding cities in the far-off cities.
Chodon is one of the few graduates in her area. She and her four siblings had to leave their village at a very young age for schooling in Leh; their mother accompanied them, while their father looked after cattle. Chodon eventually returned to the village after two decades with a degree in political science.
Over the years, the shepherds have complained that the Indian army is preventing them from venturing into pastoral land close to the border. “The restrictions have forced many shepherds to sell their cattle and find living in other sectors,” said Namgyal Durbuk, a politician from the opposition Congress party, who also rears cattle.
Chodon said the combination of these elements had seen many people leave their traditional way of life behind and move to urban areas in search of comfort. “Every year a number of families sell cattle, property and buy a car, they then move to towns and cities forever,” she said.
Last August, New Delhi unilaterally took away the Kashmir region’s autonomy and divided it into two directly controlled union territories – Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. Both China and Pakistan opposed the move at the United Nations.
The Kashmir region has been contested by India and Pakistan since the two countries became independent from British rule in 1947. As China controls a chunk of the disputed region, Beijing was among the countries who raised the issue at the United Stations after New Delhi revoked Kashmir’s autonomy. “India’s unilateral actions in Kashmir provoked China,” said Dr Sheikh Showkhat Hussain, formerly of the Central University of Kashmir.
The village of Sachukul is 130km to the east of Leh. Typical of Ladakh’s poor infrastructure despite its strategic importance, the road from the capital is mostly dust and gravel. It goes through the Changla Pass, some 5,360m above sea level, and those who travel on it are in danger of slipping into deep gorges.
“The government is not concerned about our well being. They should have constructed tunnels and made the roads better,” said Tashi Yakzee, an elected councillor from BJP who represents a group of villages around Sachukul.
These villages do not have a hospital. During medical emergencies, the patients are taken to Leh, and in some cases the patients die while they are ferried on the bumpy road. “A normal person falls ill when making a journey on the roads of Ladakh,” Chodon said.
In winters the villages are cut off from the cities for months due to heavy snowfall blocking the roads. The lack of development has birthed a rising discontent among the inhabitants in the region, with people drawing comparisons between India and China and saying the government has failed them.
Said Congress politician Durbuk, also a former regional councillor: “China has trains to the remotest parts of its country but our government cannot even construct a proper road here.”
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/poli...akh-stone-age-envying-china-makes-life-harder
