Tension grips Ladakh as young girl goes missing
Ahead of the next round of talks between the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Ladakh representatives, public outrage is mounting over repeated incidents of forced religious conversion through marriage in the region. On Thursday, tension gripped the remote Zanskar region of Ladakh as reports emerged of a second young girl from the area going missing in under a month. The incident has prompted strong reactions from local Buddhist organisations, who have raised serious allegations of kidnapping, psychological manipulation, and forced religious conversion through marriage.
The Zanskar Buddhist Association has formally approached the local administration, demanding immediate action.
President, Zanskar Buddhist Association, Tsering Dorjay, on Thursday submitted a formal representation to the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Zanskar, demanding a thorough and impartial investigation by the authorities.
Registration of a First Information Report (FIR), Swift recovery of the missing girl(s) and enactment of stronger anti-conversion legislation to prevent such incidents. Earlier, on the eve of the New Year, all business establishments in Leh district remained shut in protest against the kidnapping of a minor girl to Srinagar from Leh district.
Acting swiftly, Ladakh Police recovered the minor girl and handed her over to her family to prevent any flare-up. Local community leaders allege that the disappearances follow a pattern involving coercion and attempts at religious conversion, heightening fears among residents in this predominantly Buddhist valley.
The President of the Zanskar Buddhist Association submitted, “We are writing this letter with extreme urgency and distress to report the kidnapping, abduction / wrongful confinement of a Buddhist girl from Zanskar, namely Stanzin Yangdol, by an unidentified individual who has been missing for the past many days”. We have been informed by the parents of the girl that she has been kidnapped by unknown individuals who are wrongfully confining her against her will.
He further wrote, “We respectfully draw your attention to a matter of serious public concern involving the alleged misuse of marriage as a means to fraudulently convert girls belonging to the Buddhist community into another religion.
There are strong and reasonable grounds to believe that, in multiple instances, marriages are being preceded or accompanied by religious conversion of Buddhist girls, not by their free, voluntary, and informed consent, but through deception, coercion, inducement, or misrepresentation”.
“We have strong reason to believe that these incidents appear to follow a consistent and preplanned pattern, giving rise to a reasonable apprehension of an organised conspiracy aimed at altering the religious identity of girls from a particular community”. The representative of the Association further stated,” This emerging trend in which young women belonging to the Buddhist community are being continuously lured into marriage for religious conversion is highly disturbing, and this in future might lead to disturbing the communal harmony of the region”. “We also seek your kind intervention to penalise the forcible or fraudulent religious conversion, love jihad, and by taking strict action against the individual involved in this forcible conversion through marriage or allurement, which amounts to disturbing the otherwise peaceful environment of this region. We would also like to request the concerned authorities to enact stronger anti-conversion legislation to prevent such incidents”, he added.
