Massive protests are currently happening in Kargil, where Buddhists are being prevented from rebuilding the historic Gompa by Muslim clerics (monastery). The region’s Buddhist minority is speaking out against the city’s Muslim majority, who are opposed to rehabilitation work. Buddhists in Kargil have been carrying out agitation in response to Muslim clerics, and a gathering is set for today.
It is worth noting that Kargil has never faced such a schism and has never witnessed religious rioting. For the uninitiated, Buddhist teacher and speaker Choekyong Palga Rinpoche is organizing an ‘Eco Pad Yatra’ from Leh to Kargil on May 31 to raise awareness for the repair of the Gompa. However, a segment of Muslims objected to it.
Choekyong Palga Rinpoche wants to build a monastery in a contentious location in Kargil, and the matter is important because representatives of both groups came together last year for the first time to seek the 6th Schedule for Ladakh in order to protect local heritage, culture, and people’s rights. However, the Kargil Democratic Alliance, a collection of social and religious organizations, has written to the Deputy Commissioner, expressing concern that the march was politically driven and may disrupt communal unity in Ladakh.
According to the letter, the KDA met with members of the Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA) about the Gompa building, and all sides agreed the problem must be handled peacefully. It went on to say that under such conditions, the third party with no stake in the subject was attempting to destabilize regional peace. Skarma Dadul, chief of the LBA’s Kargil unit, has stated that they do not want to cause any tension, but it is their right to have a place of worship.
Notably, according to a story in One India, Kargil villagers have objected to the monastery’s building on a 2-Kanal plot of land, citing a 1969 government announcement. It specifies that the site can be utilized for commercial and residential reasons but not for temple buildings. Previously, a ToI report indicated that residents claimed Buddhists do not dwell within 20 kilometers of the site and that the existing structure is a Buddhist guest home and should remain that way. Members of the Buddhist community, on the other hand, have accused locals of not allowing them to even restore the structure.
According to accounts, on March 15, 1961, the then-Government of Jammu and Kashmir, General Department, Ladakh Affairs, sanctioned the land to the Ladakh Buddhist Association for the construction of a Buddhist Temple and Sarai. The decree specifically stated that religious construction was permitted on the property. However, in 1969, the government issued another directive declaring that the property allocated to LBA could only be utilized for the construction of residential or commercial buildings and that religious structures could not be built in the area. Since then, the land issue has raged on.
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