The autonomous council proposed for Leh will resolve only some of the problems engendered by the modern day Ladakhi politics. While the ties to Srinagar will be severed, the formula will not rid the region of homegrown communalism.
In the near future, Leh District in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir will be governed by an Autonomous Hill District Council. The relevant legislative bill, lying with Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao could, at any time of his choosing, be signed into law by the President of India.
The granting of the Hill Council will fulfil a long-standing demand of Ladakh's population for "independence" from the state of Jammu and Kashmir. It will devolve far-reaching powers of administration—except law and order and the judiciary —to local politicians. But will the Council be a panacea for all the ills of Ladakh? In some respects,it is more like a placebo.
Following Gorkhaland