BY THE WAY: One Landscape, Many Voices
How Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh Are Rebuilding a Shared Sense of Belonging.
Dr Noour Ali Zehgeer
Jammu and Kashmir was a state comprising of three important stakeholders (Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh). Even as it stands divided into two parts (Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh), the debate refuses to die about who is getting step mother treatment in the context of developmental initiatives.
The union territories (UTs) are run by two Lieutenant Governors (LGs) and a Chief Minister (CM ) for UT of J&K with limited powers to take calls. This has given an opportunity for every political party to cry foul.
For generations, the mountains, rivers and valleys of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh have formed one of the world’s most remarkable landscapes. Yet beyond geography lies something far more profound, a shared history woven from diverse cultures, languages, faiths and traditions. While political developments and regional aspirations have often shaped public discourse, an equally important story is unfolding quietly across the region, one of rebuilding trust, strengthening connections and rediscovering a collective sense of belonging.
Education is also playing a significant role in shaping a new generation of citizens. Universities, vocational institutions and professional networks are fostering collaboration among young people from diverse backgrounds. These interactions help dismantle stereotypes and replace them with personal experiences, understanding and mutual respect.
Equally important is the preservation of cultural heritage. Rather than diluting local traditions, a stronger sense of regional belonging is emerging through the recognition and celebration of diversity. The spiritual heritage of Jammu, the artistic and literary traditions of Kashmir, and the unique Buddhist and indigenous cultures of Ladakh together create a cultural mosaic that distinguishes the region from anywhere else in the world.
The story of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh has never been one-dimensional. From the bustling markets of Jammu to the serene lakes of Kashmir and the high-altitude settlements of Ladakh, each region possesses a unique identity. These differences have long been a source of richness rather than division. The challenge has been finding ways to celebrate local identities while nurturing a broader feeling of shared purpose.
From the Dogra plains of Jammu to the saffron fields of the Valley and the high monasteries of Ladakh, administrators, educators and civil society groups are pressing a common argument harmony in this region is not an abstract ideal but a practical condition for growth. Over the past year, that argument has moved from speeches into school halls, pilgrimage routes, youth exchanges and road and rail corridors that physically stitch the three regions together. The most direct official statement of the idea came in late June, when Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha told an interfaith dialogue in Srinagar, organised by the National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language and the Inter-Faith Harmony Foundation of India, that “Kashmiriyat” springs from the philosophy of “Bhartiyata”.
“India has always regarded diversity as a blessing, not a division,” he said, describing equal respect for faiths, cultures and traditions as a civilisational habit rather than a recent policy. He urged the younger generation to carry forward the idea of the world as one family, and later appealed to all sections of society to support the Amarnath Yatra as a shared act of service — “an occasion when Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and followers of all faiths in Jammu and Kashmir stand together.”
That framing has been tested on the ground. The 2026 Amarnath pilgrimage, which ran from early July into late August, again depended on local porters, langar organisers, pony-wallas and volunteers drawn from every community along the routes. Officials have repeatedly described the yatra as a working model of coexistence: faith remains distinct, logistics are shared.
Culture as the first bridge
A parallel track has been cultural. In mid-June, a Sanskritik Yatra under the Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat programme moved through Jammu and Ramban before heading to Srinagar and Leh for the Sindhu Darshan National Festival. About 250 artists from across the country performed at 15 locations on a 20-day circuit organised by the North Zone Cultural Centre, Patiala, with the J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages and district administrations. Assistant Director Ravinder Sharma of NZCC Patiala said such festivals strengthen national unity and promote cultural exchange, communal harmony and brotherhood. Manipuri artist Chimgangbam Bisanta Meitei called the tour a living expression of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat.
In Shopian, a Yuva Sammelan organised in late September by Chief Education Officer Bashir Ahmad Shah under the same banner drew students into discussions on social responsibility and mutual respect, ending in a rally for peace and brotherhood. In Leh, a June workshop at the District Institute of Education and Training, attended by more than 250 students, used the Patel anniversary and 150 years of Vande Mataram to talk about constitutional values and unity in diversity. Joint Director of School Education Zakir Hussain Samrah told students that national unity and cultural harmony are part of the same lesson.
Youth travel is the next layer. Registrations for Phase VI of Yuva Sangam, the Ministry of Education exchange under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat, pair Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh with Kerala and Lakshadweep through IIM Jammu and IIM Kozhikode. Participants aged 18 to 30 visit partner regions, sit with local institutions and return with a working knowledge of another India’s everyday life. For a generation that grew up inside tightly drawn regional narratives, the exchange is meant to make difference ordinary.
Ladakh’s separate path, shared stake
Ladakh, a Union Territory since 2019, is negotiating its own political settlement even as it joins these cultural circuits. Talks between the Centre, the Leh Apex Body and the Kargil Democratic Alliance have moved toward a UT-level elected body with powers over land, culture, language and environment, and toward constitutional safeguards discussed as an Article 371-type provision. Lieutenant Governor Kavinder Gupta has tied that political conversation to a simpler public test: “Peace and development must go hand-in-hand for building a prosperous Ladakh.” He has asked the administration to accelerate infrastructure, livelihoods, education, healthcare, renewable energy and tourism, and to keep outreach people-friendly.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, speaking in Leh earlier this year at the Central Institute of Buddhist Studies, linked the arrival of Buddhist relics to an older civilisational claim — that Indian tradition has carried a message of peace and coexistence for centuries, and that the message is especially relevant in Leh and Kargil. He also cited the post-2019 expansion of roads, bridges, districts and panchayats as the material base on which that coexistence can rest. Tourism projects under Swadesh Darshan and homestay support in tribal clusters are being presented in the same light: visitors bring income, and income reduces the space in which grievance hardens into distance.
Roads, rail and a common market
Physical connection is doing quiet political work. The Udhampur–Srinagar–Baramulla rail link, once fully operational, is expected to give the Valley all-weather access to the rest of the country and, by extension, easier movement of students, traders and families between Jammu and Kashmir. Expanded highway stretches and the doubling of Ladakh’s road network since 2019 have the same effect at a slower pace. A trader in Jammu who can reach Srinagar in a day, or a student from Kargil who can sit an examination in Leh without a seasonal gamble, experiences unity as a timetable rather than a speech.
Economic policy is being aligned with that logic. Industrial incentives, horticulture, handicrafts, food processing and tourism are repeatedly named by the Centre as employment sectors for Jammu and Kashmir; dairy plants, homestays and renewable energy play a similar role in Ladakh. The bet is straightforward: a household with a stable income has less reason to treat a neighbour’s festival, language or faith as a threat.
What still has to hold
None of this erases friction. Ladakh’s groups continue to press for clearer powers and for cases linked to the September 2025 agitation to be withdrawn. In Jammu and Kashmir, security agencies still describe terrorism and its support networks as the principal threat to the peace that cultural programmes assume. Lieutenant Governor Sinha has been explicit that the peace families now use — for sport, for pilgrimage, for school events — was secured by the sacrifices of police, the Army and central forces, and that those who target it will be pursued.
The emerging pattern, nonetheless, is consistent. Interfaith platforms in Srinagar, artist convoys from Ramban to Leh, student workshops in Shopian and DIET Leh, and youth exchanges through IIM Jammu are all trying to make coexistence a habit before it is asked to survive a crisis. Development spending and all-weather connectivity supply the practical stake. If the political talks in Ladakh and the security calm in Jammu and Kashmir hold, the region’s oldest claim — that difference here has usually lived under one roof — has a better chance of being lived than merely remembered.
(STRAIGHT TALK COMMUNICATIONS EXCLUSIVE)
