University for Ladakh

Tsering Norphel Stakmo
Independent India has gradually and steadily established educational infrastructure at large scale across all its regions of the country as part of development and nation-building. The consequences of new structural changes in the educational system though unpredictable and undesirable, it will certainly implicate marginalised sections of society adversely. This would highlight the existing conditions of educational system not being inclusive to the excluded communities living in the remotest areas of India. In other words, the data shows that the number of educational institutions is large in urban spaces than the rural and interior places. India’s Ladakh Himalayas in the sub-division of Jammu and Kashmir State, in fact, is a case in point despite it being a strategic political territory of the nation, unique cultural demography and cultural sensitivity. While the ruling establishments were busy highlighting the idea of nation and nationalism, the remotest locations such as Ladakh became derivatives to bulk up these ideas, but hardly led these protagonists to bother about the future of people living in these isolated and ecologically vulnerable terrains. These mindless attempts could only subvert the great ideas like nation building project as inclusive strategy. Lack of educational infrastructure is reported to be a major challenge of these locations.
According to latest report revealed by the University Grants Commission (UGC), there are 874 universities, which include 391 state universities, 125 Deemed to be university, 47 central universities and 311 private universities, operational in the country. In the state of Jammu and Kashmir, there are 14 universities including two central universities; one is Jammu region and other in Kashmir region. Ladakh, though constitutes the larger area of the state but size of an area doesn’t matter for an assembly constitueny. It’s the will of the state as it claims to be welfare one, to go beyond geographical constraints to ensure equity and equality of opportunity so as to share national resources and participate in the developmental process. The three regions of the state despite their geographical, historical and cultural differences are sharply divided because of the discriminatory attitude of the political class towards the people of Ladakh. No doubt, Ladakh has been a seat of learning historically, but it is a fact that no single university functions in this region so far. The larger issues of the Ladakhis as a political community, has yet to get its due attention from the corridors of power in the state as well as the Central Governments. Unfortunately, Election Commission of India could identify the voter only in the list of electoral roll and in a specified registered constituency. A large section of adults are outside of Ladakh as they are pursuing higher studies elsewhere. But authorities neither consider these young learners as a political community nor as eligible voters. In other words, students studying outside are not at all the interest of ruling elites and such attitude eventually closes down their aspirations and imaginations in the world of knowledge economy.
Recently, we have come to know that a larger number of student from Ladakh were compelled to migrate to other parts of the State and the country due to absence of a single well equipped fully vibrant university in Ladakh. The prolonged delay and postponement of examinations and conferring degrees very late in the degree colleges of Leh and Kargil coincide with violent turbulences orchestrated in Kashmir valley. This was one of the reasons of migration of students in search of higher education outside of the state. But such logic of migration does not adequately explain the real cause of the problem. The emotional pressures, physical health conditions, family detachment for longer period in one hand and financial burden on parents have been the major hardship of the migrant students from Ladakh region. For sure, not all Ladakhis are born in well off families to send their children outside. But the urge to learn and pursue higher studies puts heavy distress on many parents. It is also true that many cannot simply afford the huge cost of education due to lack of adequate educational facilities in the region. As a result, hundreds have already left their dream of experiencing a university environment in despair. The hardships faced by people of Ladakh in general and educated youth in particular naturally are multiple and hence the demand and mobilisation of youth for establishing a university in Ladakh is found to be reasonable. Higher educational institution such as a university system can offer core disciplinary training as well as the courses immediately useful for the mountainous communities for their sustenance. There is a high scope for various courses such as Glaciology, Mountology, Mineralogy, Geothermal Energy, Astrophysical Science, Anthropology, Monastic and Buddhist Studies etc. A pilot survey of the region by a group of experts can easily impress upon the political class to take up such an initiative.
No doubt, Ladakh is known as one of mountainous tourist destinations in the upper Himalayas and air services have been here to bring large number of tourist passengers, its actual cost has to be borne by students and patients at the time of contingency. The latter groups have often been left with paying huge money for a shortest air travel either to Jammu or to Delhi. Similarly, travel to Ladakh by road is time consuming besides the constant risk factors of travelling by road for 15 to 20 hours cannot be averted. Modesty and humility of Ladakh is richly credited worldwide, but their genuine demands are hardly heard by the power centres of Jammu and Kashmir region. A peaceful solution to the problem appears to be a distant dream because of the lack of political will of the ruling elites in the state.
This movement was set off in 2010 under an amalgamated structure led by the Student Associations of Ladakh which are functioning in different parts of India. Of late, a massive synchronised protest held by all the student associations followed by a complete shutdown of Leh was an indication of the intensifying movement for realising the dream of having university in Ladakh. Such movements in Ladakh and the rest of India, has scripted a new political language for the Ladakh region. However, the question is, for how long the demands are to be voiced in front of leaders by the student organisations while the former was invited to attend during annual festive occasion such as Losar and Eid. Despite numerous prayers and humble appeal, the demand for establishing a university is relegated to dark place of the election manifestoes of political parties. No genuine voices were heard of demanding university in the region in general council meetings of LAHDCs, or the legislature assembly of state or in the proceedings of Indian parliament. But at the end of the day, the students of Ladakh have to bear the brunt of tug of war between the two regions of the state Jammu and Kashmir. The Government at the state and at the centre are testing out the youth patience, which otherwise is credited for their peaceful processions. The paradigms that the development state and the dominant politics followed are perhaps creating new forms of discrimination and oppression to its own people residing in the remotest regions.
(The writer is a research scholar in the Department of Sociology, University of Jammu)
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