Nayanika Karan (Graduate,Miranda House, Delhi University) & Kumar Astik(2nd year student, BA. LL.B(hons.) NUSRL)
All is NOT well in Ladakh. What began as a peaceful hunger strike escalated into defiant protests. Unavoidably, Sonam Wangchuk, the well-known engineer and environmentalist, was arrested as a result of the violence. Wangchuk underscores that the ruling party promised to award Ladakh the Sixth Schedule during the 2024 parliamentary election itself. The government acknowledged the region’s sensitivity and told its citizens that their worries about employment, land, and culture would be addressed, but it would not go so far as to include Ladakh in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
Tracing the Faultlines: How Ladakh’s Ties with New Delhi Evolved:
Ladakh has stood tall among the Himalayas from the time of Tibetan rule in the late 10th century until the founding of the Namgtal dynasty in the 16th century. In 1834, it was conquered by the army of the Dogra dynasty, which had its capital at Jammu. For the following century, Jammu and Kashmir, a princely state, maintained authority over Ladakh.
China, Pakistan, and India all contested sovereignty of the Ladakh area following the 1947 partition of India. As part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, the area under Indian administration was admitted to the Indian union. The district of Ladakh was divided into the districts of Kargil and Leh in 1979. These districts subsequently served as the foundation for the Ladakh union territory, which was established in 2019 when the Indian government divided the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories: Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir.
The Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA), which had long favoured the notion of Ladakh becoming a Union Territory (UT), had a significant role in defining the political course of the region after the partition. However, as amending Article 370 was deemed politically impossible at the time, the demand was reduced to calling for an autonomous zone. Leh, which has a majority of Buddhists, and Kargil, which has a plurality of Muslims, have always had different political goals, making Ladakh a historically contradictory area. Kargil sought to be retained by J&K, while Leh lobbied for UT status. To bring into existence the Leh and Kargil hill councils, the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) Act was legislated by the government of P V Narasimha Rao in 1995.
Up till August 5, 2019, the abrogation of the special Constitutional privilege of J&K and the carving of the state into two UTs, specifically Ladakh, was greeted enthusiastically by Leh, and the LBA saw this as the result of the long, painful struggle of this region. Political dynamics of Ladakh, however, have witnessed another shift six years later.
Understanding the Sixth Schedule: A Blueprint for Self-Governance:
Some Indian tribal territories were classified as “excluded” or “partially excluded” during British administration. With little intervention from the colonial government, these regions enjoyed considerable autonomy. The foundation for the eventual Sixth Schedule was laid by the Government of India Act 1935, which included measures for the government of these tribal territories. The Sixth Schedule, which is a part of the Indian Constitution, allows independent district councils to govern tribal communities in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram. The establishment of independent administrative divisions, known as independent District Councils (ADCs), with some degree of legislative, judicial, and administrative autonomy inside a state is permitted by Article 244’s Sixth Schedule.
Since 2019, the fervour had considerably diminished, as it became apparent that the UT of Ladakh would not have a legislature, but the UT of J&K did. In the previous J&K Assembly, the area had four MLAs, today, bureaucrats control every aspect of the region’s governance. Additionally, the region’s concerns regarding its own land, employment, demographics, and cultural identity had increased as a result of J&K’s altered domicile policy. Leh and Kargil, the two Hill Councils in the UT, are not included in the Sixth Schedule. Their authority has been restricted to collecting some local taxes, such parking fees, and allocating and using Center-owned land.
New Delhi’s Dilemma: Security, Sovereignty, and Self-Rule:
Article 244(2) has an inherent limitation. Only a few states in the northeast are covered under the Sixth Schedule. In order to extend it to Ladakh, a constitutional amendment would be required, which calls for extensive partisan backing as well as legal procedures. Secondly, granting Ladakh the Sixth Schedule might serve as a model for other Indian tribal areas, sparking calls for analogous treatment. This may make national policy less unified and make regional administration more difficult. Furthermore, at this time, the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (LAHDCs) have inadequate administrative expertise and funding. These bodies could become overburdened if Sixth Schedule powers are extended, which could result in governance concerns.More significantly, national security issues are brought up by Ladakh’s closeness to Pakistani and Chinese borders. In this strategically critical area, granting broad autonomy under the Sixth Schedule may make centralised control over foreign and defence policy more difficult.
Finding Common Ground in the Cold Desert:
The most sustainable strategy seems to be a multifaceted one that incorporates community involvement, legal review, flexible autonomy, and open communication. A constitutional review to determine if it is constitutionally possible to extend protections from the Sixth Schedule to Ladakh or whether a substitute (special provisions of the kind found in Article 371) might offer comparable protections. Of greater importance, the government must hold an arranged dialogue with tribal leaders, youth representatives, and local councils (LAHDC Leh & Kargil). Since 2019, The government has been striving to fortify socio-economic development initiatives, guaranteeing equitable access to infrastructure, education, and jobs for Ladakhi citizens. In order to balance development with climate concerns, dialogues have also been formed to incorporate community-led care of fragile ecosystems. In essence, the challenge before policymakers is to balance Ladakh’s aspirations for protection and self-governance with the realities of national security and administrative control.
Key words
Ladakh , Sixth Schedule, Autonomy, Self-Governance
REFERENCES:
- The New Indian Express. (2023, May 3). Sonam Wangchuk to fast for 6th Schedule status to Ladakh. The New Indian Express. https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2023/May/03/sonam-wangchuk-to-fast-for-6th-schedule-statusto-ladakh-2571883.html
- Karpuram, A. S. (2024, March 7). Explained: Ladakh, Article 371, and the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. The Indian Express. https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-politics/ladakh-article-371-and-the-sixth-schedule-of-the-constitution-9199902/
- Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2025, October 8). Ladakh | Union Territory, Weather, Location, & Rivers. https://www.britannica.com/place/Ladakh-union-territory
- Sharma, S. (2025, September 26). Blood and snow: Zorawar Singh’s conquest and how Ladakh became a part of India. India Today. https://www.indiatoday.in/history-of-it/story/ladakh-protest-leh-how-became-part-of-india-zorawar-singh-kahluria-jammu-kashmir-dogra-king-china-tibet-history-2793647-2025-09-26
- Masood, B. (2025, September 28). A short political history of Ladakh: How decades of agitation gave it UT status, before statehood demand surfaced. The Indian Express. https://indianexpress.com/article/political-pulse/political-history-ladakh-decades-agitation-gave-ut-status-statehood-demand-10276785/
- Explained Desk. (2025, September 29). Why does Ladakh want to be part of the Sixth Schedule? The Indian Express. https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/ladakh-sixth-schedule-10275252/