Ladakh protest: A tale of two mountain springs and what it says about the demand for autonomy
The protests in the territory are rooted in the right to make policies, norms and laws locally.
In August last year, as I had set out for my university in New Delhi, my neighbours in the home village of Hemisshukpachan, 80 km west of Leh, asked me to return as a dispute had arisen among the villagers regarding the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission – the Centre’s scheme to provide tap water to individual households by 2024.
This seemingly minor problem in my village in Ladakh reflected the larger stakes involved in the protests in the territory demanding the implementation of the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, which provides for some tribal areas to be administered autonomously.
The point of contention were the springs on which our village depends for water. But it was an indication of the heated debate now underway about how policies and laws related to using local resources are made.
Hemisshukpachan is located around 11,000 feet above sea level and is cocooned by the massive Ladakh range of the Himalayas. A glacier to the north provides water to one tokpo, or stream, that passes through the village before discharging its water in the Singay Kababs or Indus.
A series of channels lead from the stream to agricultural fields. Due to the cold, the water is frozen for most of the...
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