Ladakh’s Language Dilemma

Like India as a whole, Ladakh is also a multilingual society. Languages spoken in Ladakh are Balti, Brokskat, Ladakhi, Purgi, Shina, and Zanskari. According to UNESCO’s list of endangered languages, Balti, Purgi, and Ladakhi are ‘vulnerable’ languages and Brokskat and Zanskari are ‘definitely endangered’ languages.

An endangered language is a language that is at risk of falling out of use, generally because it has few surviving speakers. If it loses all of its native speakers, it becomes ...

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Opinion: Taxi Union Protest, Tourism Opportunities and Sustainable Development

On the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, Kargil observed complete shutdown, which were to continue for four days but was called off later. The four-day complete shutdown was announced by All Transport Association Kargil over UT administration’s perpetual negligence of their demand for ‘One UT, one permit’. The cab operators claimed that their vehicles were being challaned and even seized as their permits have expired and not renewed by the Administration. The cab operators of Kargil see it as a bi...

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Ladakh Struggling for Existence in a Global Climate Change Scenario

Global climate change has hit hard every place on earth and humans have been failing all their efforts to either restrict it or lessen its effects. Though humans have always been active in finding alternatives to the possibilities that the earth offers. These alternatives have often their own repercussions, inviting yet other challenges to be dealt with. This is largely due to the trampling of boundaries set by nature in the guise of the contemporary yet temporary ways of life. As Vidal De L...

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Revisiting NH-301 Realignment: The Paradoxes of Environment and Development

Among many things, the government of India is very keen on developing road infrastructure in UT Ladakh, this has become even more important after the escalation in tension with the country’s largest neighbour. Sharmistha Mukherjee writes in The Economic Times, “the government’s emphasis on infrastructure development in border areas after the escalation in tensions with its largest neighbour, sale of construction equipment to the Border Road Organization (BRO) has increased 50% in the first h...

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Paradoxes of Tourism and Environment in Ladakh

Ladakh, situated in the northernmost area of the western Indian Himalaya, between the Karakoram Range in the north and the greater Himalaya in the south consists of two districts, Leh and Kargil. It is the newest Union territory, created on October 31, 2019, after being separated from the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir following the repeal of Article 370 on August 05, 2019. The area is characterized by harsh terrain, limited resources, low accessibility, and extreme climatic conditions...

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