The decision to increase the number of districts from two to seven, first announced in 2024, has sparked allegations of gerrymandering against the Bhartiya Janata Party-led Union government which has struggled to contain the fire lit in Ladakh by its move to downgrade it into a Union territory without a legislature in 2019.

Amid speculations that the new districts would chip away parts of Karakoram and Changthang wildlife sanctuaries, the decision has also raised concerns over the dispossession of livelihood resources for pastoral people who have been grazing their herds in the Himalayan region for centuries.

According to a gazette notification issued by the Union government on Tuesday (April 28), Ladakh's Muslim-majority districts of Kargil (80) and Drass (19) will comprise 99 revenue villages while the Buddhist majority districts of Sham (27), Changthang (24), Nubra (30), Leh (44) and Zanskar (26) will be made of 151 villages.

As per the Census 2011, Ladakh is a Muslim majority region with a population of 2.7 lakh which is made of 46.40% Muslims while Buddhists form the second largest religious group making up 39.65% of the population.

Earlier, Ladakh had only two districts, with the sparsely populated Leh district comprising 1.3 lakh people while the population of Kargil was estimated at 1.4 lakh, as per the 2011 Census.

Nubra, Sham and Changthang have been carved out from Leh while Zanskar and Drass have been redrawn from Kargil.

In a statement, Ladakh Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena said the "historic" decision "would usher in a new era of inclusive development in the Union Territory by ensuring an effective and efficient delivery of services at the doorsteps".

"This transformative decision underscores the Government of India's commitment to unlocking Ladakh's immense potential and ensuring balanced, inclusive, and sustainable development across the Union Territory," he said.

‘Fragmenting Ladakhi society’

However, Sidiq Wahid, a prominent Ladakhi academic and former vice-chancellor of the Islamic University of Science and Technology in Kashmir, said that the notification issued by the Union government does not spell out the overall structure of the Union territory, terming it as "one of the key shortcomings".

"It has resulted in reactions ranging from trepidation to suspicion," he said.

Wahid said that the decision could have the effect of fragmenting Ladakhi society by driving a wedge into"the remarkable unity that Ladakhi society has welded in the last five years".

"It could also disassemble the unity between the Buddhist and Muslim communities because the fine print of the redistricting exercise reveals that the Muslims of Ladakh are reduced to being a minority in five of the seven new districts, and thereby with representation of less than two-thirds of Ladakh's voice - a palpably undemocratic arrangement as the population of Buddhists and Muslims of Ladakh are almost equally split, with Muslims constituting a fractional majority".

‘Meaningless’ without staff

Chering Dorjay Lakruk, co-chairman of the Leh Apex Body which has been spearheading a pro-democracy agitation for years in Ladakh along with Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), said that the Centre was trying to sell "old wine in new bottle".

"It is a political move aimed at appeasing a section of people in Ladakh in order to dilute our main demands of statehood and Sixth Schedule. It doesn't address the wider political and cultural concerns of people in Ladakh," Lakruk said.

After the gazette notification was announced, five new deputy commissioners and senior superintendents of police were ordered to lead the civil and police administration in the new districts. Most of the new appointees have got the new postings as additional charge.

Lakruk who is also the chairman of Ladakh Buddhist Association said that these appointments were "meaningless" unless the heads of other government departments in the new districts were also not appointed by the administration.

"Unless additional staff is deployed in these districts - which will put a burden of Rs 850 crore according to the administration's own calculations - it is a meaningless exercise".

Wildlife

The announcement of new districts has been made two days ahead of the Union home minister Amit Shah's visit to Ladakh and four years after a de-notification exercise was started to "rationalise" the boundaries of Karakoram and Changthang wildlife sanctuaries.

These protected wildlife reserves spread over about 9,000 square kilometres are home to some of the most exotic species of wildlife.

In 2022, the Union government had asked the Wildlife Institute of India to identify areas of "high conservation value" for rationalising the boundaries of the two sanctuaries, reportedly on an internal recommendation after the 2020 Galwan clash.

Environmentalists are concerned that the new districts would expand civilian and military footprint, increase unsustainable tourism activities and threaten the fragile ecosystem of Ladakh which is at the forefront of global warming and climate change.

However, an official told The Wire that the new districts would enable the administration to provide basic necessities like electricity, water and phone connection, etc. for the residents "to compete with what China is doing on the other side of Line of Actual Control".

Who will have a say?

Wahid argued that the jury was still out on the question of whether the new districts would bring administration to the doorsteps of people.

"This may seem a fair conclusion. However, it will depend on the overall structure of the new districting exercise. The key determinant here will be the extent to which Ladakhis will have a say in the laws under which they will be governed, particularly regarding rights governing land rights, local employment, resource management and cultural autonomy".

Prominent Ladakhi activist Sajjad Hussain who is the executive member of KDA said that the new districts would add "another layer of bureaucratic control" over Ladakh. "It is an attempt to dilute our demand for Sixth Schedule and statehood".

Lakruk said that there are "genuine regional aspirations" among people who have suffered because of geographical barriers that divide the region. He cited the example of Zanskar, a former sub-division of Kargil whose headquarter of Padum is some 240 km from Kargil and remains cut off during winters.

Wahid said that the redistricting exercise has been assumed to decentralise scarce resources, funding and political power, "However, in a Union territory set up, the resources and funding are controlled by the union government, concentrating real political power in New Delhi. Thus, it achieves the very opposite of decentralisation".

Lakruk said that the people of Ladakh have been demanding safeguards from the Union government, "But there is nothing in this announcement (of new districts). The government should take a decision on granting full statehood and Sixth Schedule status to Ladakh instead of selling old wine in new bottle," he said.