By Raqib Hameed Naik, TwoCircles.net ,
Zanskar (Kargil): Sikander Khan, 66, a Muslim who has spent most of his life in Padum, the administrative centre of Zanskar, never thought that their centuries-old warm ties with majority Buddhist community will fall apart so bitterly that its revival becomes nearly impossible.
Zanskar, a tehsil or taluka of Kargil district, lies in the eastern half of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Out of its population of about 13,849, 95% follow Buddhism and the other 5% are Sunni Muslims.
The month of September, 2012 marked a change in the chapter of relations between Buddhists and Muslims in Zanskar, when more than two dozen Buddhists embraced Islam in Padum. The members of Buddhist community alleged that the conversion was forceful and its religious body Zanskar Buddhist Association (ZBA) fiercely criticised the action. It warned Muslims not to accept the converts into their community, but the Muslims extended their support and accepted them happily.
In Sikander’s memory, the three-year-old incident is still vivid and shook the Buddhist-Muslim brotherhood that had continued for centuries. In October 2012, weeks after the conversion, a meeting was called by then Assistant District Commissioner (ADC) Kargil and Deputy Superintendent of Police, Kargil to discuss the accommodation and security of the converts as Zanskar was simmering those days.
“I, along with other elders of our community, was called by the said officers in Padum. At around 3:30 pm, as the meeting was going on, the Buddhists from the area gathered and marched towards the Muslim-dominated areas where they attacked them and ransacked their homes. We were not allowed to move out by the officers and were only allowed after the situation was under control. When we reached back to our places, around 15 members of our community were lying injured; two of them with serious injuries. They were later flown to Srinagar for specialised treatment,” Sikander told TwoCircles.net
The year marked incidents of communal clash between the majority and minority community of once peaceful mountainous region of J&K.
The conversion incident marked the start of a draconian ‘social boycott’ against Muslims put in place. The Zanskar Buddhist Association (ZBA) issued diktats prohibiting any social and economic relation between Muslims and Buddhists. The boycott is still continuing, making the life of the minority community miserable.
“There is a total boycott of ties between Buddhist and Muslims. ZBA has issued very harsh diktats. We can’t purchase grocery and other day-to-day essentials from Buddhist shops. Neither can they purchase from us. Sometimes, we have to travel 332 kms to Kargil to purchase essentials despite availability in local Buddhist shops,” says Sikander.
Most of the Muslims in the area are businessmen and taxi drivers by profession, and the social boycott continuing for the last three years has badly affected them financially. The diktats are so harsh that if a Buddhist is found purchasing from Muslims-owned shops, he has to pay a hefty fine.
“If a person is found purchasing from a Muslim shop then he is taken by members of ZBA to a local Gompa (Buddhist religious place) where he is beaten and a fine ranging from 10000 to 20000 is imposed,” a local who wished to remain anonymous told TCN.
Muslims to whom TCN spoke to alleged local politicians and councillors for flaring the communal passion with two prominent faces including Panchok Tashi, the National Conference-nominated councillor and Tsering Angdus, the Executive councillor looking after the Zanskar affairs.
Tsering Angdus refuted all the allegations and said: “Back in 2012 when Buddhists embraced Islam then the Muslims from Padum took out procession in the town holding the converts on shoulders like they had won a World Cup. This act hurt the Buddhist community, which led them to impose some sanctions. Allegations of my wrong doings are totally baseless. I am trying my best to end the boycott and condition is now normal. It will take time to better the relation between the two communities,” Tsering Angdus, Executive Councillor, told TwoCircles.net
“This issue can be best solved if both Muslim and Buddhist groups come together with the intervention of some NGOs,” he added.
Panchok Tashi, the nominated councilor said, “There is no social boycott here. However, purchasing and selling things is a personal matter and nobody can force a person to purchase or sell against his/her wishes.”
The local political leaders and councillors have failed miserably in bringing peace as the Buddhist majority in Zanskar has remained a strong vote bank for them, and they do not wish to lose the same by going against the diktat of the ZBA.
In August 2015, the Muslim shopkeepers and taxi drivers arranged a meeting with councillors of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Kargil, which included Panchok Tashi and Tsering Angdus asking for their intervention in ending the social boycott.
“They heard our grievances and had promised intervention at council level. They even promised us that if they can’t solve it, then they will seek J&K government’s intervention. But months after the meeting the things remains as they were and we have left hope that this boycott is ever going to end,” said Nazar Mohammad, 55, a farmer.
The Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Kargil was set up in 2003 and is a locally elected body consisting of thirty councilors; twenty-six are elected from the respective constituencies while four are nominated from the principal minority and women. The Council is headed by the Chief Executive Councillor and has four other Executive Councillors. The Chief Executive Councillor possesses the rank and powers of a Cabinet Minister while the Executive Councillors possess the rank and status of Deputy Minister.
“Nobody listens to our ordeal through which we are going. There are only problems and problems and the continuing social boycott is making our lives miserable day by day. We can’t construct houses because we have been prohibited from taking sand and sand stones from rivers because they are in Buddhists controlled areas. The barter between local farmers had been the mainstay of people involved in agriculture, but social boycott has brought doom to it,” says Nazar.
Nazar further expressed his apprehensions over educated Buddhist youths who he claimed are the members of Zanskar Buddhist Association forcing ‘Social Boycott’.
“I don’t know what education these youths are getting, which is letting them fall into the traps of these kinds of radical activities.”
A Kargil-based freelance Journalist, Sajjad Hussain, who is closely monitoring the Buddhist-Muslim divide in Zanskar since its beginning, said: “Our Buddhist brothers have always been peace-loving persons and have remained harmoniously with Muslims since centuries. In last three to four years, the RSS has been able to penetrate into Ladakh region and have opened schools in Choglamsar and Zanskar besides promoting their agenda which is harming communal harmony between Muslims and Buddhists. Even Dalai Lama had called for end to social boycott two years ago but organisations like RSS have been able to hijack the local ideologies which are badly hurting the communal harmony. It has become more a Political tool than a religious issue.”
With the failure of successive councilors and local politicians in negotiating peace between the two communities in Zanskar for the last three years, Muslims have now put all their hopes on PDP-BJP coalition in power to put a full stop to the continuing social boycott. For the time being though, the Muslims remain ostracised in the region.