Contemporary Ladakh: Identifying the “Other” in Buddhist-Muslim

Issue Brief # 234 August 2013 Innovative Research | Independent Analysis | Informed Opinion Contemporary Ladakh Identifying the “Other” in Buddhist-Muslim Transformative Relations Sumera Shafi Jawaharlal Nehru University Changes in the relationship of major sub- identity being a fluid concept is often divisions of a society are reflected in the misappropriated by a certain section of development of active scholarly analysis the society for the furtherance of their of those changes. The ongoing interests. It is the age old congenial inter- transformations in the Ladakhi society communal networks that face the brunt of have also attracted certain amount of such maneuverings leading to irrevocable attention from scholars from within and transformations in the everyday relations. outside the area. Currently there is a select list of material for one to be able to This essay is mainly based on available evaluate the trajectory of social change literature and keen observations made as in Ladakh and also to identify the a native of Ladakh. The conclusions are causative factors for such change. In that preliminary in nature and aimed at the direction this paper seeks to specify the possibility of bringing out a theoretical process of identity formation amongst the standpoint through the use of empirical Ladakhis by emphasizing how the data. differential circumstances faced by the Who is the other? locals has led them to approximate religion as the prime identity marker. This essay does not aim at identifying the Through the illustration of Ladakh’s other but in contrast it is an attempt to experience, this essay seeks to argue that illustrate the complexity involved in doing just that! Identity is a fluid concept and there are This essay was initially presented in a multiple identities which an individual can conference organized by the IPCS in approximate based on various collaboration with the India circumstances. This applies to the case of International Centre (IIC) Ladakh wherein any attempt to label the Views expressed are author’s own. society in terms of primordial identities 1 IDENTIFYING THE “OTHER” IN BUDDHIST-MUSLIM TRANSFORMATIVE RELATIONS 2 leads to a very parochial understanding sense of personal sameness and historical of what it means to be a Ladakhi. continuity. In the realm of sociology, identity can be located in theories of Ladakh with its rich history and culture has symbolic interactionism specifically in the temporal and spatial dimensions which theory of ‘self’ discussed by G.H Mead have led to the build-up of a diverse (1962). In the later works of Erving social composition in the region. It boasts Goffman (1959) and Peter Berger (1974) of a social structure with multiple identity is explicitly termed as ‘socially ethnicities largely documented to have bestowed and socially transformed’. lived in harmony over a long period of Michael Foucault’s (1979) work Discipline time. Moreover with the globalization and Punish brought in a whole new wherein change has become the only aspect to the concept of identity, i.e. constant, it becomes difficult to classify considering individuals as inhabiting the society based on a particularistic multiple identities and how these interact character; acknowledging and with each other. In modern sociology accepting pluralism is essential to there is no consensus on the concept of maintaining peace and stability in self/identity as some see it as occurring society. out of the process of socialization, while others argue that in a modern world with Before getting into the details of the an increasing sense of individuality, Ladakhi case one needs to take into people are more likely to self-actualize. consideration the various stances that The afore-mentioned theoretical scholars take on the idea or concept of perspectives clearly show that identity. conceptualization of identity is difficult and consequently leads to obscurities The essentialist perspective of the when applied to societal classifications. concept understands it as a coherent attribute which more or less remains the By laying out the process of identity same throughout an individual’s life. formation among the Ladakhis this essay Contrarily constructivists take an aims to show how identity is not just a exception on such a conception and lay contentious concept but also that it can emphasis on how identity is invented or lead to the breach of societal balance constructed to varying degrees. Following when misused. Freud’s theory of identification the psycho -dynamic theorists particularly Erik Erikson I (1963) in his book Identity: Youth and Ladakh: Coping With Crisis, approached identity as a process Winds of Change linked to the individual as well as the society/community, where he came up Geographically and historically, Ladakh with the notion of identity crisis as a phase has been very distinct from other regions of confusion occurring due to the lost of the Indian nation state. Though there has been a steady flow of outsiders into the Ladakhi terrain from Tibet, Xinjiang, and Central Asia amongst others, it has for the major part of its existence been Ladakh with its rich history and culture has cut off from the world outside its temporal and spatial dimensions which have led immediate contact. to the build-up of a diverse social composition in However, after its borders were opened the region. It boasts of a social structure with to the outside world in the late 1970’s, the multiple ethnicities largely documented to have influx of travelers, mainly foreigners, film makers and researchers interested in lived in harmony over a long period of time. Ladakh has led to the revelation of interesting facts about Ladakh’s 2 2 IPCS ISSUE BRIEF # 235, AUGUST 2013 landscape and its people. As a result, today there exists a sizeable amount of literature on various aspects of Ladakh. The strategic location of Ladakh which led to Consequently these works provide a sporadic conquests from its neighboring areas has foundation on which this essay is based. not only affected its political situation but also Administratively, Ladakh is believed to molded its social composition. The blending of have lost its status as an independent ethnicities due to the flow of different people over kingdom in the 1840’s when the Dogra time has shaped the present constitution of rulers conquered its territories. As a result of the Treaty of Accession signed by the Ladakhis. Maharaja Hari Singh, Ladakh automatically became absorbed into the Indian nation state and thereafter Ladakh has remained a part of the state of are believed to be the descendants of Jammu and Kashmir. Though at the time the traders and merchants who mainly of its inclusion into India Ladakh came from Kashmir or parts of Central represented a single district, in 1979 it was Asia such as Kashgar, Yarkand, Khotan divided into two districts Leh and Kargil. etc in the 17th century. At present each of these two districts are headed by their respective autonomous The western part is largely inhabited by hill councils which work as a the Balti tribe, who share a common decentralized form of partial self- heritage with the Tibetans and the rest of governance in the area. the Ladakhis in terms of language and culture. The Arghons are practitioners of The strategic location of Ladakh which Sunni Islam and the Baltis mainly follow led to sporadic conquests from its Shia Islam. Apart from the Sunni and Shia neighboring areas has not only affected communities, Islam is represented by the its political situation but also molded its Nurbhakshia community, who are small in social composition. The blending of number but have a stronghold in the ethnicities due to the flow of different border areas of Turtuk and Bogdang in people over time has shaped the present the northern reaches of Ladakh (Rizvi, constitution of Ladakhis. Though there are 1996; Sheikh, 2007). conflicting views on the question of who the first settlers of Ladakh were, there The spatial spread of the two major seems to be a consensus that the Mons, religious communities of Buddhists and Dards and the Tibetans were among the Muslims clearly reflects that the regions first to inhabit the region. close to Tibet have chosen to remain Buddhist while the western part having In contemporary Ladakh, the Tibetan borne the influx of the Muslim traders and influence is prominent in the central and preachers seems to have taken to Islam. eastern parts; on moving westwards The Arghons who mainly came as traders towards the town of Leh and the nearby also seemed to have purposefully settled villages the Mongoloid features are visible around the commercial hub of Leh. with some element of Indo-Aryan traits. However it must be acknowledged that Most of them follow the Buddhist faith there are areas of mixed population as and form almost half the population of well and many scholars point to the the entire Ladakh region. However there prevalence of a composite history are a small number of practitioners of wherein the Buddhists and Muslims are Islam in the Leh district who belong to the believed to have shared a syncretic Balti and Arghon communities. culture. The Arghons who are mostly confined to Scholars such as the Ladakhi historian the Leh town and a few nearby villages Abdul Ghani Sheikh, Nawang Tshering 3 3 IDENTIFYING THE “OTHER” IN BUDDHIST-MUSLIM TRANSFORMATIVE RELATIONS 4 Shakspo, and Ravina Aggarwal illustrate in point being the 1989 communal riots of their view through examples of mixed Leh that led to a major clash and sparked customs drawn from both the faiths in off a rupture being replayed continuously various areas across Ladakh such as through the occurrence of similar or at Khuksho, Achinathang and Purig. They least recognizable communal also emphasize that these are not disturbances.

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