Communist Party of India (Marxist): BJP Govt’s Policies Deepen Discontent in J&K and Ladakh MASSIVE protests in Leh over statehood, legislature and Sixth Schedule left some dead, dozens injured and number of people arrested including widely known environmentalist, Sonam Wangchuk The reorganization of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019 was pushed forward as a move, ‘to strengthen integration, elimination of terrorism, and ushering in development’. Five years on, however, the discontent that began in Kashmir has spread to Jammu and lately to Ladakh, raising uncomfortable questions about the path chosen by New Delhi. Instead of bringing stability, the changes appear to have eroded the diversity and unity that once defined the region. Jammu and Kashmir, before its division, was a multi-layered landscape of religions, languages, and cultures, bound together despite differences. Jammu’s pluralist character had Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and other communities living side by side, deeply interwoven in daily life. Kashmir too reflected such mosaic where Muslims, Pandits, Sikhs, Shias, Sunnis, and others were integral to its shared story. Ladakh, with Buddhists, Muslims, and smaller groups, formed another vital thread of that diversity. It was this diversity rather than uniformity that gave strength to the unity of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. History records that opposition from some quarters to Jammu and Kashmir’s accession to India was not just about borders, but about resistance to secularism and diversity. On one extreme were Islamist groups rejecting coexistence, and on the other, Hindu communalists such as the RSS and Hindu Mahasabha, who sought religious homogeneity and thereby joined those who advocated two nation theory. In between, ordinary people of different faiths lived and identified with the plural spirit of the region. ….
https://peoplesdemocracy.in/2025/1005_pd/bjp-govt%E2%80%99s-policies-deepen-discontent-jk-and-ladakhWhat’s behind the Green surge?The Green Party’s annual conference would usually have passed by as a political afterthought. But not this year. Continuing the trend set by his eye-catching leadership bid, Zack Polanski has come out swinging: attacking Starmer’s ha
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