View source for Ladakh Buddhist Association

{{Short description|1933 Ladakh-based Indian organization}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Update|date=October 2010}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = Ladakh Buddhist Association 
| native_name = Ladakh Nangpay Tsoksdus
| native_name_lang = Ladakh Nangpay Tsoksdus
| image =File:Shanti Stupa Dharma Wheel.jpg
| image_size = 250px
| alt = <!-- see [[BP:ALT]] -->
| caption = Ladakh Buddhist Association
| abbreviation = LBA
| motto = Welfare of people of Ladakh
| former president = PT Kunzang
| merged = 
| successor = Thupstan Chhewang,former MP 
| formation = 1934  <!--e.g. use {{start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}}-->
| founders = Kalon Tsewang Rigzin, Munshi Sonam Tsewang, Kalon Bankapa Murup Gyaltsan|
| extinction =    <!--e.g. use {{end date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}}-->
| merger = 
| type = Socio-Religious / Charitable
| status = 
| purpose = Maintaining peace and stability in Ladakh region
| professional_title = <!-- for professional associations -->
| headquarters = [[Leh]], [[India]]
| location = Chokhang Vihar, main market, Leh
| region = [[Ladakh]], [[India]] <!-- or: | region_served = --> <!--Any particular region or regions associated with or served by the organization-->
| services = 
| membership = 24356
| language = [[Ladakhi language|Bhoti]], [[English language|English]] 
| sec_gen = 
| leader_title =Vice President<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.reachladakh.com/in-conversation-with-dr-tundup-regarding-kalachakra-tuskor-wangchen/2386.html |title=In Conversation with Dr. Tundup regarding Kalachakra (Tuskor wangchen) |publisher=}}</ref>
| Vice Presidents- Chering Dorjay, former MP and Dr. Tsewang Yangjor
| board_of_directors = 
| key_people = President Thupstan Chhewang Vice President Tsering Dorjey Lakrook
| subsidiaries = LBA Youth Wing
| secessions = 
| affiliations = [[Buddhist Society of India]]
| budget = 
| staff = 
| volunteers = 
| website = [https://www.twitter.com/buddhistladakh Official handle]
| remarks = 
| footnotes = 
}}

'''Ladakh Buddhist Association''' (LBA) is an organization in [[Ladakh]], [[India]] concerned with interests of [[Buddhist]]s in Ladakh.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://caravanmagazine.in/lede/interfaith-marriage-trouble-leh |title=An interfaith marriage that stirred up trouble in Leh |last=Varagur |first=Krithika |date=1 June 2018 |newspaper=[[The Caravan]] |url-access=subscription}}</ref> It was founded in 1933 by [[Namgyal dynasty of Ladakh|King Jigmet Dadul Namgyal]], Kalon Tsewang Rigzin, Kalon Bankapa Morup Gyaltsan and Munshi Sonam Tsewang.<ref>{{cite news |last=Das |first=Shaswati |title=With J&K bifurcation, India gets its first Buddhist dominated Union Territory |website=mint |date=2019-08-07 |url=https://www.livemint.com/news/india/with-j-k-bifurcation-india-gets-its-first-buddhist-only-union-territory-1565150582349.html}}</ref><ref>http://www.ladakhstudies.org/lsbackissues_assets/LS16.pdf {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}</ref>

==Objectives==
It has the aim of looking after the Buddhist interests, bringing social reforms in Ladakhi society and to preserve its art, culture, language and tradition.

==Organisation==
The association was formed in 1934.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chakravarty |first=Ipsita |date=5 May 2019 |title=Saffron shadows: Has the covert presence of Hindutva groups helped the BJP in Ladakh? |url=https://scroll.in/article/922333/saffron-shadows-has-the-covert-presence-of-hindutva-groups-helped-the-bjp-in-ladakh |website=[[Scroll.in]] }}</ref>

The LBA consists of the Parent Department, the Youth Wing and the Women's Wing and branches located in villages that are meant to address local issues and look after the welfare of Buddhist Community. LBA has its unit branch offices in the outreach representing a cluster of villages. These units facilitate and work closely with the community heads and their own village representatives as well as their women and youth groups.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ladakhkalachakra2014.com/ladakh-buddhist-association/ |title=Ladakh Buddhist Association - the 33rd Kalachakra Ladakh |access-date=2014-09-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140911003449/http://ladakhkalachakra2014.com/ladakh-buddhist-association/ |archive-date=2014-09-11 }}</ref>

In 2021, [[Thupstan Chhewang]] was elected as the leader of Ladakh Buddhist Association.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-02-11 |title=Thupstan Chhewang elected as LBA new President |url=https://www.dailyexcelsior.com/thupstan-chhewang-elected-as-lba-new-president/ |url-status=live |newspaper=Daily Excelsior }}</ref>

==Post-independence history==
{{anchor | Accession | Post-Independence | Conflict | 1947 }}

Following the accession of [[Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)|Jammu and Kashmir]] to India in 1947 and the discussions with the [[UN mediation of the Kashmir dispute|United Nations]] regarding a plebiscite to determine the final disposition of the state, Chewang Rigzin, the President of the Ladakh Buddhist Association wrote to the Prime Minister [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] asking for it to be excluded from such arrangements. He argued that Ladakh was a "separate nation" by all tests, such as race, language and culture, and had a right to self-determination. He suggested that Ladakh should be governed directly by the Government of India or merged with Jammu or East Punjab.<ref name=Wani/>{{sfn|Sikand|2006|pp=111–112}} Nehru urged him not to raise separatist demands as they might weaken India's stand on Kashmir in the United Nations.{{sfn|Sikand|2006|pp=111–112}}

After this, the LBA turned to demanding internal autonomy within the state of Jammu and Kashmir. It made various demands such as the set-up of a Ladakh Affairs Ministry headed by a Ladakhi MLA, adequate representation in legislature and civil service, development funds for roads and bridges etc.{{sfn|Sikand|2006|p=112}} Some of the demands were accepted, but others were not because they were opposed by the Kargil Action Committee in [[Kargil]] {{sfn|Sikand|2006|p=112}} The autonomy demand was rejected in the 1980s on the grounds that it did not have support in Kargil.{{sfn|Sikand|2006|p=113}}

The onset of armed militancy in the [[Kashmir Valley]] in 1989, with strong Islamist overtones, convinced many Buddhists in Leh that their future was uncertain in Jammu and Kashmir. The question of regional autonomy now began to be framed in communal terms, as a Muslim-Buddhist conflict.{{sfn|Sikand|2006|p=113}} A scuffle between a Buddhist youth and some Muslims in July 1989 provoked a major agitation in [[Leh]], spreading to other parts of the [[Leh district]]. A strong crack-down by the Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police with allegations of human rights abuses, led LBA to launch a violent struggle demanding a [[Union Territory]] status for Ladakh.{{sfn|Sikand|2006|p=113}}

From 1989 to 1992, the LBA initiated a boycott against Ladakh's Muslim as a way to express their grievances toward the Kashmiri government despite the fact that Ladakh's Muslims differed from the Muslims Kashmiris and even each other.{{POV statement|date=November 2022|reason=This is an argument, not information. That too based on a student newspaper.}} Buddhists were restricted from having any social or economic contacts with Muslims in pain of being threatened by violence or fined.<ref name="UNCG">{{Cite web |last=Bonta |first=Bruce |date=17 March 2011 |title=Buddhist and Muslim Families in Ladakh [Journal Article Review] |url=https://peacefulsocieties.uncg.edu/2011/03/17/buddhist-and-muslim-families-in-ladakh/ |url-status=live |website=UNC Greensboro}}</ref> In 1989, there were violent riots between Buddhists and Muslims in [[Leh]], caused by increasing economic and political resentment felt by Buddhists. The LBA announced a social and economic boycott of local Muslims.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pinault |first=D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uGMYDAAAQBAJ |title=Horse of Karbala: Muslim Devotional Life in India |date=2001 |publisher=Palgrave |isbn=978-1-137-04765-6 |pages=140–141 |chapter=Muslim-Buddhist Relations in a Ritual Context}}</ref>{{quotation requested |date=November 2022}} The boycott undermined the positive relationships between the two communities. However, due to strong links between the Muslim and Buddhist community, many Buddhists ignored the orders and continued to interact with Muslims.<ref name="UNCG" /> The boycott was lifted after the LBA and the Indian government agreed on creating a [[Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh|Autonomous Hill Council]] for Ladakh.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fewkes |first=Jacqueline H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RceTAgAAQBAJ |title=Trade and Contemporary Society along the Silk Road: An ethno-history of Ladakh |date=2008 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-97308-7 |pages=33 }}</ref> 

In early 2000, representatives of the LBA claimed that many Buddhist women were taken forcibly from their home villages and [[Forced conversion|forced to convert to Islam]], and accused the state government in Jammu and Kashmir of allowing this to happen.<ref>Tundup Tsering and Tsewang Nurboo, in: ''Ladakh visited'', Pioneer, 4/12/1995.</ref><ref>[http://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20000113/j&k.htm#2 Conversions: LBA blames govt] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110163047/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2000/20000113/j%26k.htm#2 |date=10 November 2013}} ''The Tribune'' Online edition, 12 January 2000</ref>

Researchers have noted that the LBA has been allying with the [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh|RSS]], [[Bharatiya Janata Party|BJP]], and other Hindu nationalist groups since the late 20th century.<ref name="Van Beek"/><ref name="Wani">{{Cite book |last=Wani |first=Aijaz Ashraf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mPqNDwAAQBAJ |title=What Happened to Governance in Kashmir? |date=2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-909715-9 |at=Chapter 1}}</ref><ref name="Hussain">{{Cite book |last=Hussain |first=Shahla |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vEmBzQEACAAJ |title=Kashmir in the Aftermath of Partition |date=2021 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-49046-7 |pages=228 }}</ref> This has been due to Buddhists calling for the political autonomy of Ladakh and feeling marginalized by the Kashmiri government, issues the allied groups also support. However, these alliances were made for mainly political and socio-economic reasons as Ladakhi Buddhists are also wary of the influence of these groups on their community.<ref name="Van Beek"/>  Martijn van Beek has considered the rhetoric of portions of the LBA and their leaders to have grown more [[Communal violence|communal]] and "[[Saffronisation|saffronised]]" in part because of the role Ladakh plays in the [[Kashmir conflict]] and the LBA's advocacy for the autonomy of Ladakh. Beek summarised the situation as such: "Thus, while the LBA and some Buddhist political leaders may be willing to share a platform with the [[Sangh Parivar|sangh parivar]] to promote their agenda for Union Territory status, Hindutva as such would not appear to have much appeal in a region like Ladakh. Yet despite this limited appeal of [[Hindutva]], the saffronization of education, of the media, and of public life in general are likely to strengthen even further the perceived validity and necessity of communal idioms".<ref name="Van Beek">Van Beek, Martijn (2011). [https://apcss.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/PagesfromReligiousRadicalismandSecurityinSouthAsiach9.pdf Hindu Nationalism and Buddhist Radicalism in Ladakh] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220212091704/https://apcss.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/PagesfromReligiousRadicalismandSecurityinSouthAsiach9.pdf |date=12 February 2022 }}. Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies.</ref>

The LBA has deployed rhetoric in recent years alleging that Muslims are outnumbering them and that Buddhist women are being "lured" into marrying Muslims and subsequently converting to Islam.<ref name="VOA">{{Cite news |last=Varagur |first=Krithika |date=3 April 2018 |title=Communal Tensions Rattle an Indian Himalayan Region |url=https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/communal-tensions-rattle-indian-himalayan-region |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200115161126/https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/communal-tensions-rattle-indian-himalayan-region |archive-date=15 January 2020 |newspaper=VOA News }}</ref><ref name="Van Beek" />  The case of Stanzin Saldon marrying a Muslim man is set as an example of this alleged phenomena. Saldon herself responded to these claims by stating "The statement of LBA is false and concocted, an effort to suppress and threaten the rights of individual." Some local politicians and Muslim organisations also expressed concern that the LBA was trying to disturb communal harmony due to this event.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2017-09-10 |title=Buddhist woman's wedding with Muslim sparks tension in Ladakh |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/buddhist-woman-s-wedding-with-muslim-sparks-tension-in-ladakh/story-gsHijp23F7O4Ck79U0Bt6I.html |website=Hindustan Times }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Raj |first1=Suhasini |last2=Gettleman |first2=Jeffrey |date=2017-10-12 |title=On the Run for Love: Couple Bridges a Buddhist-Muslim Divide |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/12/world/asia/india-buddhist-muslim-marriage.html |url-status=live |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
File:Kalachakra 2014 (14488738740).jpg|Ladakhi Buddhist monks
File:Zanskar Lingshed hautbois.jpg|Traditional instruments
File:Buddham Sharanam Gacchami.jpg|The Chortens or Buddhist Stupas at Themis Monastery, Ladakh
File:Gold plated Buddha, Shanti Stupa, Leh, Ladakh.jpg|Gold Plated [[Buddha]]
File:Folk dance, Kargil.jpg|Ladakhi folk dance at [[Kargil]]
File:Girls and a nun, Kalachakra 2014, Ladakh (14515216578).jpg|Ladakhi Buddhist nuns of [[Ladakh Nuns Association]]
File:Statue of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar at the Mahabodhi International Meditation Centre, in Leh, Ladakh.jpg|[[Bodhisattva]] [[B. R. Ambedkar]] statue at Leh
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Ladakh Nuns Association]]
*[[Beda people]]
*[[Politics of Ladakh]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{citation |first=Yoginder |last=Sikand |title=Religion, Dialogue and Peace in Jammu and Kashmir |publisher=WISCOMP: Foundation for Universal Responsibility |year=2006 |url=http://wiscomp.org/Publications/153%20-%20Perspectives%2023%20-%20Religion,%20Peace%20and%20Dialogue%20in%20Jammu%20and%20Kashmir.pdf}}
* {{citation |last=Smith |first=Sara H. |title=The Domestication of Geopolitics: Buddhist-Muslim Conflict and the Policing of Marriage and the Body in Ladakh, India |journal=Geopolitics |volume=14 |year=2009 |issue=2 |pages=197–218 |doi=10.1080/14650040802693382|s2cid=144100071 }}


[[Category:Buddhist organisations based in India]]
[[Category:Organisations based in Ladakh]]
[[Category:Religious organizations established in 1933]]
[[Category:1933 establishments in India]]
[[Category:Anti-Islam sentiment in India]]