Row over peace march KDA objects to Buddhist spiritual leader proposed visit to distt Kargil

The proposed ‘Peace March’ of a Buddhist religious scholar and spiritual leader from Leh to Kargil town has set off a fresh controversy in Ladakh Union Territory, with the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) strongly objecting to, what it described, “controversial and politically motivated walk”.

The KDA alleged that “it was an attempt to disrupt the communal harmony of Ladakh and it did not appreciate any such activity in Kargil headquarters that was detrimental to the peace and stability of the region”.

The development came days after Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA) and KDA agreed to find an amicable solution to the issue of the construction of a Gonpa, a Buddhist shrine, at the district headquarters of Muslim majority Kargil. Both the organizations had made a fervent appeal to the people to avoid provocative/irresponsible statements on social media which might prove to be hindrance on finding a peaceful resolution of the issue and lead to disturb the peaceful atmosphere among the both the districts of UT of Ladakh.
“We have come to know that a Tibetan origin Monk has started a controversial and politically motivated walk from Leh to Kargil under the guise of a Peace March. The timing of this so-called Peace March assumes even greater significance given the fact the people of Leh and Kargil are fighting for constitutional safeguards and Statehood under the unified leadership of the Kargil Democratic Alliance and the Leh Apex Body,” the KDA said in a statement issued on Wednesday.

It expressed its “strong objections and reservations” about this walk and said that such attempts at disrupting the communal harmony of Ladakh was not in the interest of Ladakh.

“We hope that the administration will wake up from their deep slumber and take strong note of it. This kind of unnecessary provocation must stop as soon as possible. The responsibility for any such unwanted incident that results from the non-action of the Administration should squarely lie upon the Administration,” it said.

“In the meanwhile, we also appeal to the people of Kargil to maintain peace and harmony and not to get provoked. We want to clear this to the people of Ladakh that the said issue is under serious consideration of both KDA and LBA. Dialogue is the way forward for maintaining the amicable relation that we have sustained for centuries in this valley. We as a party to the issue, reiterate our resolve for resolving this issue once and for all at the earliest,” it added.

Meanwhile, the KDA’s statement evoked strong reaction from Leh where the stakeholders strongly condemned the use of insulting words in favour of His Eminence 8th Choskyong Palga Rinpoche lay.

“I strongly condemn the usage of such a loose word ‘a Tibetan Origin Monk’ by KDA for our His Eminence 8th Choskyong Palga Rinpoche lay. Highly shameful that LBA is tolerating all these repetitive insults on our religious gurus, our sentiments and our mother tongue by KDA,” one of Ladakh’s stakeholders wrote on twitter.

Pertinently, a joint meeting of the representatives of LBA and KDA was recently held in Kargil to discuss the long pending issue of construction of a Gonpa at Kargil Headquarter for the Buddhist community.

“It was agreed to convene another meeting to find a permanent solution regarding the issue after consultation with all concerned stakeholders in their respective areas,” the joint statement had said.