Podcast; Voices from the Lockdown: Division of J&K splits Ladakh down the middle as Leh, Kargil regions have different aspirations

Jammu and Kashmir has been under communication blockade and other restrictions on the civilian population for 69 days now. While the situation in the Kashmir Valley continues to be grim, neighbouring Ladakh is in the middle of a crisis of its own. Ladakh is made up of Leh, with a majority Buddhist population and Kargil, with a majority Muslim population. While the demand for Union Territory has been made from Leh for decades now, under the leadership of the Ladakh Buddhist Association, this sentiment isn’t shared by the leaders of Kargil, who view UT status as a step-down from statehood. They also are fundamentally opposed to the bifurcation of the State of Jammu and Kashmir. In the third episode of Voices from the Lockdown — a Firstpost podcast that seeks to bring to the fore the ground realities in Kashmir, Ladakh and Jammu under the communications shutdown — we speak to Murtaza Fazily, a journalist from Ladakh, who will help us dissect this difference of opinion between leaders of Leh and Kargil regions in the soon-to-be standalone Union Territory. We also have an update from Kashmiri journalist Javid Ahmed about how the situation was during the Friday prayers, a sensitive occasion, in Kashmir. This podcast contains recorded snippets of a phone conversation over landline - the only form of communication available in Kashmir to the outside world.