Tit for Tat-or can freedom ever exist?- this is a copy of the letter I am submitting to the Kashmiri newspapers.

Padam, Ladakh 21st July, 2013- a ghost town

Why is the world so cruel? I cannot believe what happened on my recent visit to Padam.

Padam is located in the Zanskar region of Ladakh and administered by Kargil. Ladakh itself has until recently been predominantly Buddhist. However in the Zanskar valley more and more peoples of the Muslim religion have moved over the so-called dividing line Ringdom Gompa from the Kargil region. In some ways this movement has been favoured by the administration which has tended to give positions of responsibility to those of the Muslim religion and this tendency also applies to the police force.

My position in this matter is one of strict neutrality. I love both Kashmir and Ladakh and as an Australian tourist I have been visiting these regions for many years both for trekking and to help develop a non-government organization called Uplift Kashmir with doctors and other professionals based in Srinagar. I have friends of both religious persuasions and I guess this year I have been trying to come to grips with the great dilemma of Kashmir – which is how they will find their freedom and is their some greater wellbeing once they get to this point. Ask any Kashmiri what they want and the answer is freedom. But ask any Kashmiri how to they get there without unleashing a greater terror and you are met with fewer answers.

My purpose here though is to outline to your Kashmiri readers what I observed in Padam. On the 21st July as the bus approached Sani we were told a curfew had been applied. Maybe some of your readers already know the reason for this. Apparently a few days before a young Buddhist girl had run off with a Muslim boy. In my country that would hardly be an issue. We all know at that young age love and emotions run strong. But in both religions there are strong objections to mixed religious relationships. Again as I understood it the girl would have been forced to change her religion.

This is the crux of what made the local Buddhist population angry. They could see their ties with their land and peoples being eroded. The problem seems to be growing and started last year. 4 or 5 years ago when I was there on another trek these were happy communities.

the police force were heavy handed once again

As a result of this situation the Buddhist people in Padam started a protest march up what is the only really main street in the town when the police came out to meet them. Stones were thrown at the police and they retreated. No damage to anyone though and soon this part of the story was over. Please note that I am not condoning the behavior of the Buddhists at all. They may have been angry and they may have frightened the police.

Whether the police were angry over their loss of face in the initial handling of this confrontation or for other accumulated reasons they were revengeful when they returned to the streets. They started at one end of the town firing guns into the air and smashing windows of all accessible Buddhist buildings down the street. They entered all the Buddhist hotels and guest houses breaking whatever they could get to. They stole money and equipment. They bashed the women folk wherever they were unfortunate enough to be trapped. One of their policemen was shot in the foot by another policeman

Actually the word policeman should no longer apply to these men. These men are thugs and as such should be brought in as criminals. When police operate without respect for the law; without even understanding that they are no longer protecting the people that they are meant to then they are without hope. As for their commanders whose job it is to control their men I say they are even more contemptible.

When I walked from Sane to Padam the next day no one was on the street. In 7 km I saw only 1 Police car and no persons on the street. On entering the town I first visited the hospital as I was feeling sick. Neither the main hospital nor the older wards looked to be inhabited. The 2 nurses that I met seemed to have little to do. It would appear that the patients had gone home where it was safer.

The main street was a ghost town. The next day I took it upon myself to visit various establishments and everywhere people were frightened by the brutality of the police. It is going to take a long time to repair the damage and open their businesses again. Will the Government help these people? I doubt it. I suspect some businesses will give up knowing that those who should be protecting them can at any time destroy their business again.

the Buddhist hotels were targeted by the police

So I say to Kashmiris who seek freedom. Always I am led to believe that they would have a more just country if they were free of India. But how can this be so when here is a section of Ladakh that they rule without any compassion in almost the same fashion as they criticize India is doing to them.

Justice, compassion, peace and respect for other people’s religions seems to be so difficult to achieve in this part of the world. Maybe I will never understand what Kashmiris mean by freedom.

Denis Buchanan