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#3960, 30 May 2013

China and India: Border Narratives from
Ladakh
Zainab Akhter
Research Officer, IReS, IPCS
E- mail: zainab@ipcs.org

Chinese incursions in Ladakh are always discussed in context to a threat to national security,
given the strategic importance of the region. However, the problems faced by the locals living in
border areas such as Demchok, Nyoma, and Chushul rarely enter the national limelight.
This commentary is an attempt to bring out the problems faced by the locals living in these
areas. It also tries to look into the propaganda used by the Chinese to win the hearts of the
Ladakhis in a well-planned way in these border areas.
Eating Up the Grasslands

The Changpas, a nomadic tribe of Ladakh rear their herds and Pashmina goats in the
mountains of Ladakh and usually go near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in search of greener
grasslands. The Chinese side has grabbed most of the grasslands during the incursions, which
are causing problems for these nomadic tribes and their way of life. It has caused a serious loss
of livelihood to the nomads, as well as to the people living in remote areas. For them, the only
source of income is their grazing land.
They now fear that they might lose the remaining land. Talking about the insecurity of the
people of Demchok village, the Sarpanch of Kuyul (Demchok) Nawang Tangey said, Most of
the families have been out of job and their livelihood as they have already lost their land to
China army troops. He fears that if the government of India does not listen to the plight of the
people of the border villages, then the day is not far when they either leave the villages and
settle in Leh or cross over to China.
Although the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development council (LAHDC) has recently said that
they will create new pastures for the villagers and nomads, the process will be long and
abundant funds will be required to carry this initiative forward.
Psychological Game

The people in the border areas watch Chinese channels on television, which are telecast in
Tibetan language. Further, their mobiles catch Chinese signals better than the ones provided by

Indian operators. The most disturbing fact about this process is that the Chinese telecast
propaganda through documentaries and short movies about how their country is a better place to
live in.
According to the Sarpanch, parallel to the border incursions there has been a parallel cultural
invasion by the Chinese in Ladakh and the Changpa nomadic tribe speaks the same language as
their counterparts on the other side and share a similar ethnic identity, so the older citizens in the
border area fear losing their children to China as a result of this propaganda.
Loopholes at the Border

Since 2010, the responsibility for the border in the Ladakh region is with the Indo-Tibetan
Border Police (ITBP), which falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Home Affairs
(MHA). When incursions happen, they wait for orders from the district headquarters in Leh,
which in turn waits for directions from the MHA. Lt.Gen. Arvind Sharma (Retd.) who has
served in the region said, The ITBP is not well trained and equipped as most of the resources
for this force remains with the MHA. These forces who are supposed to guard the border are
mostly away from their duties.
According to P. Stobden, a strategic analyst from Ladakh, There is very little recruitment of the
locals in this force and people from the plains have a hard time understanding and surviving the
tough terrains of Ladakh. So, if posts for locals are, created in this force in more number, they
will be more interested in guarding their own land.
A force called Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) was created in 1962, and raised in 1963 by the Indian
Government, to guard the Sino-India border in Ladakh. It recruited Ladakhis in large numbers
but unfortunately, this force was disbanded by the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) while they were in
power. They were shifted to the Indo-Nepal border.
Commenting on the security system in Ladakh, Stobden said, It is a sad story that the security
is in shambles in Ladakh, half of the fine Ladakh scouts have been reduced to orderlies and they
have been shifted to Ambala, Sikkim, and other places to do odd jobs for their bosses. He
further stated that the Chinese plan their incursions in advance, as they do not take any step
without deep thinking. They have left their visiting cards in DBO and the use of the term
urgency by the government of India in reference to the incursions in Ladakh precisely implies
that their strategy has worked.
There is hardly any involvement of the RAW and IB in border areas and in the incursions, and
therefore it can be also termed an intelligence failure. According to the Jammu and Kashmir
revenue records, there were 110 villages in Ladakh Tehsil. But today, it is less than 90. What
happened to those villages and what will happen to the present villages if the policies are not
revised and changed?

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