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Ladakh, whose capital is Leh, is officially part of the Indian State of
Jammu & Kashmir.
- Aug 23/09, "Flashbacks from Here and There: A Ladakh Journey --
Part One" by Nick and Gina Ellena. (Abridged from their article in
Travel Magazine) ~ chicoer.com
 Our
bus rounded the shaded base of the hill and suddenly the monastery was revealed
in brilliant sunlight. It was a dazzling sight.
The huge monastery rose in tier after tier of bone-whitewalls on the side of
the mountain in the Indus Valley of Ladakh in Northern India.
Several young school boys passed by shouting "Jooleh!" at us,
the friendly Ladakh greeting that is delivered with a smile.
Gina was an instant hit with her phrase-book knowledge of Ladakhi. The children
clustered, laughingly, around her. We left them behind waving to us when we
started to climb to the monastery. We paused frequently for breath in the
thinning atmosphere of 11,500 feet. Below us the Indus River plunged into the
terrible Himalayan gorges.
A deep band of green and gold lined the river. It was harvest time. In the
fields families stooped over barley, cutting it with sickles. Their songs
kept rhythm with their movements.
A hum of voices drifted down from the monastery. The murmur grew louder as
we approached the stone stairs at the main entrance. A lama in a burgundy
robe appeared at the top step. He waived for us to approach. We climbed,
somewhat in awe, and
took off our shoes. We followed the lama who, with clasped hands, led us
inside. We entered a huge prayer hall, lit by two bright shafts of sunlight,
which revealed massive carved red pillars that held up the ceiling. A
senior lama was passing around, distributing money that the lamas happily
received. It was payday at the monastery.
Ladakh, the land of lamas, who seek freedom from endless reincarnations, is set
in an environment of raw and hostile beauty tucked into one of the most remote
corners of the globe.
It is sometimes called Little Tibet because of the influence extended there by
Tibetan Buddhism. It is flanked by Pakistan to the west, China to
the north, Tibet to the east and India and Kashmir to the south. All
around tower some of the highest mountains in the world.
The monasteries play an important part in the life of the country. Almost every
village has
one, each with two head lamas -- one for spiritual and one for temporal affairs.
With the Muslim invasions of the Seventeenth Century, the influence of Allah was
extended to Ladakh, and Buddhism and Islam have existed side by side. With
the treaty of Armitsar in 1846, Ladakh and Kashmir passed over to India.
Ladakh has seen conquerors come and go through the centuries. These upheavals
have left few scars in a land that never dips below 8,000 feet and most of its
scant population lives, toils and dies between the giddy elevations of 11,000
and 15,000 feet.
The seasonal cycle, limited almost exclusively to the pursuit of food, shelter
and endless rounds of prayer, has gone on virtually unchanged amid the roaring
technology of the 20th century.
(Part II on Sept. 6)
Nick Ellena, a retired reporter with the Enterprise-Record
who covered Butte County government for decades, shares his memories of his
world travels in this column.
How Ladakh was Saved
- May 26/09, Sify (India), "An Ode to the Unsung Heroes of Ladakh" by Claude
Arpi
The 17-year-old Braveheart
He was a 17-year-old who was enrolled as a Jemadar (Junior Commissioned
Officer [cf. 2nd Lieutenant] in the Indian Army in 1948. And he won his
first Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) at that very age. Ever heard of this hero?
The late Chewang Rinchen, a Ladakhi from Nubra Valley, went on to rise to the
rank of a Colonel by the time his long and glittering army career came to an
end in 1984.
Born in 1931, Chewang could have spent his entire life in the remote village
of Sumur, at the confluence of the Shyok and Nubra rivers. But the visit of
the Kalon (minister) of Leh [Ladakh's capital] changed the course of his life.
The official spotted the spark in the 13-year boy and, after gaining the
approval of his parents, decided to take him to the Ladakhi capital and
educate him.
It was here in Leh four years later that Chewang first encountered the Indian
Army.
On March 13, 1948, Col (then Captain) Prithi Chand and a few of his Lahauli
companions lowered the Union Jack and hoisted the Indian tricolour shouting "Ki
Ki So So Lha Gyalo" (`Victory to the Gods` in Ladakhi) and "Hindustan Zindabad."
Captain Chand's 2nd Dogra Company had reached Leh before columns of raiders
could make it to Ladakh in one of the most daring operations of the 1947-1948
war in Jammu and Kashmir.
With 20 men, the Captain ... managed to cross the Zojila pass in winter.
Everybody at the headquarters had branded the attempt "suicidal." But the
headstrong Captain refused to pay heed to them and on March 9, he was in Leh.
His heroism and leadership helped the Buddhist region avoid the fate of Skardu,
which
had been besieged for several months.
The good Captain soon became the mentor of the young Rinchen, who twelve days
later underwent a ten-day military training under Subedar Bhim Chand,
Chand`s second-in-command.
Rinchen then recruited 28 of his friends from the Nubra Valley and thus the
Nubra Volunteer Force (later, Nubra Guards) came into being.
No question of surrender
By now, the raiders from across the border were planning their attack on Leh.
They could reach Leh through three different routes. The most unguarded was
the one via the Shyok river and Rinchen's village.
The 17-year-old Jemadar immediately left Leh with his men, and after a 10-day
walk, which involved crossing the treacherous Khardung-la, the volunteers
reached the banks of the Shyok river.
Once there, the Nunnus, (as the jawans recruited in Nubra Valley were to be
known) were put under the command of Rinchen`s trainer Subedar Bhim Chand.
Soon after reaching their destination, they began repelling the intruders.
The marauders, though, continued to threaten Leh even after the Dakota of Air
Commodore Mehar Singh (a daredevil Air Force Officer) became the first plane
to land in Leh on a makeshift airfield on 24 May 1948.
General Thimayya, then a Major General commanding the Kashmir sector, was with
Mehar Singh in the cockpit. The duo had demonstrated that it was possible to
open an air bridge and bring reinforcements into the Buddhist kingdom.
Despite Mehar Singh`s achievement, Leh was far from secure.
By the end of June, there were only 20 regular jawans and 150 militiamen
operating under Bhim Chand in Shyok valley. One day, all the forces were
ordered to return to Leh to protect the Ladakhi capital. As for the Nubra
Guard, they had to be disbanded and their arms and ammunitions withdrawn.
The young Rinchen did not accept the Headquarters` order and rushed to Leh to
meet Prithi Chand. He told the Captain with breezy assurance: "Sir, there is
no question of surrendering myself or my weapons to the enemy. My fighting
spirit will never die."
Chand was convinced. He gave him 28 rifles and a
Sten-gun*
and sent Rinchen back to Nubra.
The saviour of Ladakh
For one month and 23 days, Rinchen and his Nunnus heroically defended the
Shyok and Nubra valleys using tactics like shooting from different spots or
lighting fires on many peaks to trick the enemy into believing that Indian
troops were encircling the enemy.
It worked and the raiders believed that they were facing a large contingent of
the regular Indian Army.
Rinchen was thus able to stop their advance [un]til the time reinforcements in
the form of a Gorkha {Nepali] company could be sent.
In 1984, a book published in Pakistan entitled
Baltistan Par Ek Nazar
mentioned: "If Commander Chewang Rinchen had not foiled these attacks, we
would have overrun the whole of Nubra and then, crossing Khardung-la and
occupying the airfield
of Leh, we would have been the masters of the entire region of Ladakh."
It was after this, on August 25, 1948, that Rinchen was enrolled in the Indian
Army as a Jemadar. He was not yet 18.
In November, 1948, he began to advance along the Shyok river toward Baltistan.
Using unconventional tactics, he repelled the marauders supported by Pakistan.
He captured peak after peak (such as Lama House, Tebedo and Takkar Hills),
village after village (Skuru, Biagdangdo), hardly using his own ammunition.
Instead, he used hand grenades and bayonets to attack the enemy, often
collecting not only rifles and bullets from the fleeing Pakistani troops, but
also the food necessary to sustain his Nunnus.
On January 1, 1949, a ceasefire was ordered by the Indian Government. "It came
like a bombshell. Given a few days, the raiders could have been thrown out of
the entire Baltistan," it was noted.
Rinchen had, however, earned his first MVC, which he received in September
1952 from Sheikh Abdullah, the then Prime Minister of Kashmir.
The Gateway to Hell
Twelve years later, in the summer of 1961, Rinchen was given another
"impossible" task: to set up a post in Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO), near the
Karakoram pass.
The need arose after another terrible blunder by Nehru's government - the
closure of the Indian Consulate in Kashgar that had facilitated the trade
between the sub-continent and Central Asia. The severing of the
thousand-year-old cultural
and trade link provided the People's Liberation Army (Chinese Army) with an
opportunity to build a road on Indian territory with impunity.
Realising its mistake, Delhi decided to set up a permanent presence near the
base of the Karakoram Pass. This was the job Chewang Rinchen had been
entrusted with.
It entailed a trek through 120 km of the most dangerous tracks on the planet
beginning from the Nubra valley.
There were two routes. The winter path was the easiest, crossing the Shyok
river frozen for several months of the year, while the other went through the
Saser pass (5326 m). Both routes converged at Murgo, not far from DBO.
The area between Murgo and DBO, which Rinchen and his men had to cover from
there on, was what you could term a plain at an altitude of 5000 m. It was
called the "The Gateway to Hell" for its notoriously deceitful weather, its
freezing temperature and deadly snow blizzards. Lucky were the caravans that
went through unscathed.
In August 1961, Rinchen and his Nunnus set off on their trek towards DBO.
Rinchen`s biographer recalls: "As the winter had set in, the march proved to
be extremely difficult. When the party reached Saser La [pass], it took rest
at the base for two days before crossing the Saser La. However, Rinchen, along
with [two of his men] climbed a virgin peak close by, at a height of approx
6,000 metres, without any equipment and oxygen cylinders. They reached the
peak by noon and planted a Buddhist flag, "Tarchok" with the prayer "Om mane
padme hum." This was typical of the Nunnus, simultaneously Buddhist to
the core, and fearless and daring.
After crossing the pass, they proceeded towards DBO. Along the way, they came
across skeletons of human beings and animals lying scattered all along the
track. This was a normal sight on this route.
On September 3, 1961, the party reached the Chip Chap river, not far from DBO.
The next morning, when he woke up, Rinchen noticed the hoof marks of camels
and horses as well as tyre marks left by a three-ton vehicle.
He began to suspect that the Chinese were already occupying the Indian
territory and decided to locate the Chinese post.
After crawling through difficult terrain and a high pass, he reached a water
point. The enemy wasn't far away.
He climbed a small plateau, and with the help of his binoculars saw that
hardly 500 metres away "the Chinese had established their headquarters in a
double-storied fort, having two doors and many loop holes. About 300 Chinese
were busy making bricks and loading and unloading three three-tonners."
He immediately informed the Army Headquarters who relayed his discovery to
Delhi. As usual, the bosses in Delhi could not believe that the Chinese could
have penetrated this deep into the area.
Fortunately, the presence of the fort was confirmed by two surveillance planes
which took pictures. Delhi had to accept the hard facts and accept the
importance of having the permanent post in DBO.
A hero again
In September 1965, at the height of the India-Pakistan war, Rinchen, often
compared to an ibex, was given another impossible task.
The Chinese were threatening to attack DBO to support their Pakistani friends.
He was ordered to travel from the Nubra Valley to DBO through another unusual
route.
Instead of taking the normal 15 days, Rinchen, leading his troops (including
his commanding officer), made it in four days. His commanding officer
remembers: "On the fourth day, the 25th September 1965, we were in our battle
positions at the tri-junction."
The Army Headquarters was astonished when they received the information that
the force had already reached DBO. That was Chewang Rinchen!
Six years later, in the 1971 India-Pakistan war, Rinchen and the Nunnus
covered themselves in glory once again.
They continued the unfinished task of 1948, reoccupying the large village of
Turtok and advancing further towards Baltistan using "ibex" tactics: climbing
through the most difficult path in order to take the enemy by surprise and
from a higher position. It helped that Rinchen used hand grenades and bayonets
to attack the enemy, sparing the ammunition.
Unfortunately, once again a ceasefire was declared on September 17, 1971 and
Rinchen and his men could not reach Kapalu, the Siachen base camp on the
Pakistan side. If only he had been able to continue his operations for a few
more days, he would have regained Kapalu and one would have never heard of the
Siachen glacier conflict.
The devout Buddhist nevertheless earned a second MVC during the 10-day
operation.
~ Claude Arpi, the writer of this ode, is an
expert on the history of Tibet, China and the subcontinent. He was born in
Angouleme, France. After graduating from Bordeaux University in 1974, he
decided to live in India and settled in the South where he is still staying
with his Indian wife and young daughter. He is the author of numerous English
and French books including The Fate of Tibet, La Politique
Francaise de Nehru: 1947-1954, Born in Sin: the Panchsheel
Agreement and India and Her Neighbourhood. He
writes regularly on Tibet, China, India and Indo-French relations.
*Sten gun: next generation machine gun after the
Thompson. First used by Canadian forces in WWI at Dieppe.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The scholars do not agree on the etymology of the word Ladakh.
For some, it is the 'Land of the Passes' (la); for others, it is the
'Land of the Lamas.' Whatever the correct interpretation, it is, for both
reasons, certainly one of the most peaceful places on earth.
But, recently, foreign embassies in India decided otherwise; they issued a
circular forbidding their nationals to visit the area which was suddenly
tagged as 'the most dangerous place in the world,' though the ground reality
said otherwise.
Visiting Leh last week, I had the chance to experience the celebrated peace
and hospitality of the region (especially with all the tourists
absent).
A recurrent mistake made by diplomats as well as political commentators is to
equate Kashmir with the state of Jammu and Kashmir, which is vaster (areawise
and politically) than the valley.
As rightly pointed by Dr Karan Singh, the erstwhile Sadar-i-Ryasat and heir
apparent to his father Hari Singh, the last maharaja of Kashmir: 'A common
mistake is to use the word Kashmir as a shorthand for the multi-regional
J&K state and then to proceed politically on this basis. This
approach is the root of many problems.'
Though the Kashmir valley constantly draws the attention of the world media
and the chancelleries in Delhi, it is geographically a very small portion of
the state. In 1947, the area of the state was about 222, 000 sq km. Today,
about 79,000 sq km of that area is occupied by Pakistan, 5, 300 sq km were
generously 'ceded' to China by General Ay[o]ub Khan in 1963 and 37, 000 sq km
were grabbed by China in the early 1950s when Beijing decided to built a road
linking occupied Tibet to Sinkiang.
At the time of Kashmir's accession to India in October 1947, political and
economic power was offered to Sheikh Abdullah's National Conference government
in Srinagar despite the fact that Ladakh covered 70 per cent of the area under
India's administration. Dominated by the successive Kashmiri governments for
the past 50 years, Ladakh has practically been deprived of any say in its
development.
It is interesting to return to the period immediately succeeding the
maharaja's signature on the Instruments of Accession, when raiders from the
North West Frontier Province (the same region where, today, Osama bin Laden
and his Al Qaeda followers seem to have taken refuge) began pouring into the
valley, looting and burning villages in their way and abducting and raping the
women, whether Muslim, Hindu or Sikh. It is only their greed that delayed them
long enough to allow the Indian army to save Srinagar and repulse the raiders
beyond Baramulla. During these first months after Independence, Jinnah and his
colleagues' motto was: 'Let us liberate our Muslim brothers from the
yoke of the Dogras (which term was later replaced by Indians).' The
raiders entered the valley under this pretext.
But the Pakistanis leaders' greed had no limit. Their 'two nations' theory,
according to which the Muslim dominated areas of the subcontinent were to
become part of Pakistan and the Hindus, Sikhs and others were to remain with
India, was thrown into the wind when Karachi decided to 'liberate' their
Buddhist brothers in Ladakh. The motivation for Operation Sledge, which aimed
to take over the vast Ladakh plateau, was not ideological: the treasures of
the Buddhist gompas (monasteries) were a great lure for finance-starved
Pakistan.
In February 1948, when the brigade commander in Srinagar (Brigadier 'Bogey'
Sen) got wind of these plans (the raiders were to comprise of more than 800 of
tribal Pathans mixed with a few Gilgit Scouts), he was in a fix. The
formidable Zoji-la pass was an uncrossable barrier between the valley and
Ladakh and there was no way to airlift reinforcements to Leh. Wheels other
than the dharma chakras were unknown in Ladakh.
It was then that Captain Prithvi Chand, a young Buddhist officer from Lahaul,
the Himalayan region beyond Manali and the Rotang Pass, offered his services;
he told the brigadier he was ready to cross Zoji-la in winter with a small
caravan of men and mules carrying arms and ammunitions. Though Buddhists and
believers in ahimsa, these men were ready to risk their lives and fight their
way through the weather, the altitude and the raiders to defend their
co-religionists in Ladakh. Nobody thought the mission feasible, but
there was no other solution.
So without the knowledge of army headquarters -- which was reluctant to permit
such a risky operation -- the young captain crossed the pass with about 60
volunteers and reached safely Leh to prepare a surprise for the raiders.
It was first of a long saga of heroic acts by the young officers of these
mountainous regions who, since then, have bravely defended Indian territory.
One should mention Colonel Chewwang Rinchen, who was twice awarded the Mahavir
Chakra -- first for having stopped the advance of raiders in the Nubra Valley
in June 1948 and the second for the bravery he displayed in the Turtuk sector
in December 1971.
More recently, Major Sonam Wangchuk (another Buddhist soldier to be awarded
the MVC) and his Ladakh Scouts recaptured some of the crucial peaks occupied
by Pakistan during the Kargil war in 1999. One still has the image of Wangchuk,
praying to the Dalai Lama, the incarnated Bodhisattva of Compassion, to give
him the strength to save his nation, India.
These Buddhist heroes had to first fight their own non-violent Buddhist
principles before they could take on the invaders; they knew the survival of
their dharma was at stake. They had heard tales of the fall of Gilgit, where
the scouts led by Major Brown, a British officer, had revolted against the
Dogra garrison and invited Pakistan to take over the administration. In the
days that followed, Hindus and Sikhs were given a few minutes to decide if
they wanted to adopt the Islamic faith or die.
Immediately after the Accession, the Ladakhis took the stand that their future
was linked with India, though culturally, racially and linguistically they
were closer to Tibet, the source of their inspiration and religion.
Ladakh finally became a part of India when General Thimmaya won the most
extraordinary battle of modern warfare, taking his tanks to the top of Zoji-la
to the utter surprise and disbelief of the raiders who immediately fled.
Though these heroes had rescued more than half of the maharaja's territory,
the Ladakhis were still very unhappy. They had saved their dharma, but were
getting entangled in the Kashmir problem. They had no interest in Sheikh
Abdullah's political games which were aimed at getting the valley an
independent status. (In December 1947, the Sheikh even asked Hari Singh to
continue to be maharaja of Jammu, Kathua and Udhampur while he would be the
ruler of an independent Islamic republic. The fate of Ladakh, Baltistan,
Gilgit was not mentioned in the Sheikh's proposal.)
In May 1949, the first delegation of the Young Men's Buddhist Association of
Ladakh led by Kalon Chhewang Rigzin met Nehru in Delhi and presented him a
memorandum: 'We seek the bosom of that gracious Mother India to receive more
nutriment for growth to our full stature in every way. She has given us what
we prize above all things -- our religion and culture.'
It is interesting to note that Abdullah was fighting for a separate flag for
the state, even as the Ladakhis glowed with pride on seeing the Asoka wheel on
the Indian flag. Ladakh saw in it the symbol of 'goodwill for all humanity and
her concern for her cultural children.' They prayed to Nehru: 'Will the Great
Mother refuse to take into her arms one of her weakest and most forlorn and
depressed children -- a child whom filial love impels to respond to the call?'
Unfortunately, India's leaders, beginning with the Kashmiri Pandit, Nehru, did
not respond to Ladakh's appeal. An eyewitness to this first meeting told me
Nehru smiled and explained he was sympathetic with their views but 'Kashmir
was now an international problem and India could not afford to take any hasty
actions which could spoil the good Indian case in the UN.'
Of course, 53 years later, the reference to the good case seems laughable, but
the attitude of most Indian leaders continues to remain unchanged. 'We cannot
afford to antagonise Srinagar' remains the motto.
We can see today where this policy of appeasement has led us!
This is the shocking contrast -- on one side, some self-styled leaders refused
to go through the recognised democratic system of elections and daily asked
for more autonomy from the Indian state and, on the other side, the peaceful
people Ladakh begging for more integration with India. In Leh, one understands
the frustration of the ordinary Ladakhi who asks: "But what have they
[the Kashmiris] done to deserve so much attention and advantages?"
In 1989, faced with Delhi's decade-long apathy and the 'larger issue of
Kashmir', the Ladakhis had no alternative but to resort to an 'agitation,' an
concept alien to Buddhism. When Kushok Bakula Rinpoche, the head Lama of
Ladakh and long-time minister in Srinagar (he recently retired as India's
ambassador to Mongolia), began to defend the interests of Ladakh in the early
fifties, he probably knew about the fate of the Jammu agitation and the tragic
end of its leader Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, who had dared to object to the
Sheikh; Mookerjee, who believed India should have 'one flag, one constitution,
one President,' lost his life in the process.
As a Buddhist teacher, Bakula did not choose the path of confrontation; he
tried to get more autonomy for his region by working with the system.
But this method also failed.
A greater autonomy and closer links with India were not granted till the
Ladakh Buddhist Association organised their non-violent movement in 1989, soon
after the elections were rigged in the state and Pakistan began its proxy war
in the valley. Due to the 'insurgency,' the region wanting to join Pakistan
was pampered and appeased with more and more incentives, while Ladakh, crying
to be one with India, was told to wait because their demand for Union
territory status could not be granted at this point of time.
One of the main hurdles was the existence of Article 370 in the Indian
Constitution: the concurrence of the state assembly where the valley has the
majority is required for any change, however minor.
When I recently interviewed Ladakhi leaders in Leh, most of them, including
the chairman of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Thupstan
Chhewang felt Article 370 should be abrogated. The autonomy they demand is not
an autonomy from India, but an autonomy from Srinagar with whom they do not
share common problems and aspirations. Many of my informants consider 1947 not
as the independence of Ladakh but its enslavement to the leaders of the
Kashmir valley.
This went to such an extent that, in 1952, when Sheikh Abdullah presented the
state's budget to the constituent assembly, he forgot Ladakh. When Bakula
protested in a strongly worded speech, Abdullah asked his speech to be
expunged from the records under the pretext that it was in English and not in
Urdu.
After many frustrating decades, Ladakh was finally offered an Autonomous Hill
Development Council as a compromise in 1995. Though the chairman and his
executives councillors (ministers) have vast executive powers on paper, they
often face a frustrating situation with Srinagar, which is not really
interested in their problems and has the ability to block the system.
This strange situation is compounded by the fact that the Hill Council
has been elected on the ticket of the Congress party, which is against
the trifurcation of the state and not presently in power at the Centre.
Under these circumstances, it is difficult to see how the aspirations of the
Ladakhis can be fulfilled in the near future. Though they will be returning
four MLAs in the forthcoming assembly election in the state, it is doubtful if
the situation of the most strategic region of India will substantially
improve.
Some people in Leh have pinned their hope on the younger Abdullah (Omar),
feeling he will be more sympathetic to their plight because of his modern
education and outlook. But, ultimately, the situation of the three regions can
change only when each side is able to decide about its own needs and
development priorities. For the ordinary Ladakhi, it is difficult to
understand why the Centre, while continually appeasing the valley, has refused
to allow the population of Ladakh and Jammu choose their own destiny and come
closer to India.
The abrogation of Article 370 should certainly be the first step towards the
integration of these regions. One flag and one Constitution is enough for the
Ladakhis.
Some other actions could help reduce the frustration of the gentle people of
Ladakh. One is the opening of an all-weather road from Spiti valley to Leh via
Tsomiriri lake. Today, the two main highways are closed for more than seven
months in a year. The opening of the old trade and pilgrimage route to Kailash
in Tibet will also help; this would render Leh only three days away from
Mansarovar and boost the local economy.
The creation of a local party that could ally directly with the Centre and
lend force to the demands of the Ladakhis could also go a long towards helping
their voice to be heard in Delhi. It should not be too difficult since the new
deputy prime minister, L K Advani, recently rediscovered his roots on the
banks of the Sindhu (Indus) river flowing through Ladakh.
But it is imperative not to forget Ladakh's special location: it is the only
region in India facing two enemies -- the Chinese 'Liberation Army' on the
high plateau of Aksai Chin and Linzinthang in the north, with Tibet in the
west and Pakistan in the east. The region is also the scene of battle for the
strategic Siachen glacier, which connects the old caravan route to Kashgar
through the Karakoram pass.
And one should also not forget that, in times of difficulty, the Ladakhis have
always cast their lot with India."
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