Nhs 0. Dm " " irs 25 £ 4

§ ,, ■■::■ .# ;v i Oil fO

and the

Project: Michael Tiionipson of the International Academy of the Eovironmeru presented a cultural view of environment and development in the

outlining differing perceptions of; nsaUire,., .... .'* 1

'Considers

'sustainable ..dbvaSqpmsnL

and fenvironmental risk; while this writer sought to dispel the mydh that... .. ., * ■■■■. ...

deforestation adoiig Tibetan- ^: riVafsisfcjMiMly.related to.". I '" increased siltation and JQooeiing in downstream basins, :■■■■■

Spiansor&l Dy tjie French poyjerBment and organised by two relatively new- NGO^: EcoTifeet-France-afid-Ehvirdn-raent SansFroptiere, the Paris conference was able to analyse envHO^jmenLaLaiid deveiopnient trends; but provided tittle in the ^v way of a future agenda or practical soMons. That task was, iri part, undertaken by the secopdl coaference^ "Ecology, Development Trendssand Ttansnafidna'l Impacts on the -Higft Plateau", held in StockhoIniJn November.
- Organised by EcoTibet-' ♦' Swedenatilthe$w.edishTijb^ * Committee, tfiis meeting fielded-papers^, a^nong bthejrs, on flie environmental hatory and i biodiversity of the Hnnalaya, development trends in Tibet, remote sensing versus the field*- * woirk approach to data collection, and sustainable
day4ong conference was roun* * deH Off by a panel disctissioii on the viability-of independent» projects foj' s'ustainibje, development,in Tibet

: It was cleaf thai the iqaestion of Tibetan development involved two-radically differing perceptions pf jhe road to ..be. taken, -llie; conference discussed the "grand plari" and the \.^J*tihtering*^? app^daehes to deyeiopme.ht, Th^ Chinese mega-project approach falls in ■ thseeds of Tibet was seen to lie in small, participatory projects, such as for watershed management, education ">■■

andlieilth.

- Saujeev Prakasii

1994 HIMAL i »

%.}t-.. f^.-$£ :^ -™ ^ ^;

■.■■BRIEFS ■

^{Ladakh on the Schedule}

assertion and demands for reservations and affirmative actions increase in the Himalayan

region with the authorities being pressured to act, there wiltbemyriadi ^compteMiesMuntangle, Most difficult will be the problem of identifying those eligible for preferential status. Ladakh is a case inpoint. ■ M January 1991, the Indian Government decided to WhB'ScHeduie^Aibe status to most residents of ladakh. The debate that has risen subsequently over identity Jdenti^mifoyuMgrMk Mints is instructive

to all'concerned over ir$er-eth%icand^communalharmony in ^:jhe Bimalaya, The issue of'scheduled'tribe status for Ladakh was te^|f||^|3|||.fc^»j₃fo|/₁!i SfHfiti SfMmijk Frotifee_i What follows is an adapted portion of her piece in tfye'n&g^neZ. '".'. .-.■..-. ■■ -..-.■. -.■.-.. ^ .■■■■ - ■■■■ ■>■■ ■ ■■■■■ ■■■■ -" ^//: ■■■ "



Tribe status has conferred on nearly all

; inhabitants of Ladakh {that is, I

: both %£$ and KargU districts), except on groups stieh as iftghito Sunni Muslins (bora of^;

.;.-, marriages between L^dafcrus arid Sunni Muslims from outside Lacfekh, basic ally Kashmiris^ Syeds and Ktoans. Syeds haw

: beers denied ST status prestirriably ^: t|ey are'ethnically'outside ^: L^daktu and in the case'of JChans/the consideration was their high economio stattis (though ST status I13S japt been denied to wealthy, Buddhist families); The denial of tribal status to Arghun Sunnis is, however, a thorny issue locally andis aresult of conti'adictions iri Government policy.

Ladakh M»slim Association jPfesideat Akbar Ladakhi does not agree "With the recoinraendations made by_: ,e^)erte on Ladakhi history to the

Th? bird, the soaks

arid tbs boar signify

three capital sins:

ctes/re, anger and

ignorance.

H HIHtAL- . Jan/Feb 1994

Registi-ar General in charge of.... ■,

Scheduled Tribes. Their definition of Arghans as half^{1 :} breeds (saying tliey had an...... ... ,. .

identity oftheir own different

■ frdrri theroth^r ^ tribes' of .-.■..■. .■■■■

Ladakibj is contradictory to the ^: idea of a■■■' ffibe* in me first place,

he says: Jfthe" fix^etts.had ■:■■

adopted thecriterion of naming^:/l:: : the^inhabitants of afegion^:as k 'Whole as eligible fo| tribal status, it would not have cheated bitterr^ejsSi He adds: "Byivirtut of its geographical isolatio^i Snd backwardness, the entirev region of Ladakh is eligible for:

st status.^ :;i - "

m does- appear to tnariy that the denial of ^;ST statii^ to Arghmi Musiiihsisnotjust, as other ■;■;■ 'h&lf^breeds' such as Dpgra Arghuris (of in^ed Lad,akrii_:..and<, Dogra parentage) andNepati ■: ^:: Arghuns^oJ.' mixed Ladakhi'arid

given¹ tribal status;; This is par%..: djie to the conflating of various

criteria for deciding Oh STstanis/

this status accordmg to

;'' for"" 7 .

irijitance, E^tipa-(people of Baltistan) and Purigja people of

declared tribal on: thebasis of " some racial criteria; for instance, 'Bbtos* (^ teriri Indicating people of Mongoloid or'Tibelan ^: stock; locally liavfeg assbciaii^n with Buddhists and, therefore,'., riot acceptable to Arghuri Sursius);

Thelandsettleinentof 1908' .. shas .been taken ss a cut-off point ^i:for Such designation, in which Mnjlips have been defined as being "ATghun'\ ""Bahl", ■'Buddhist^ and so on,The hybrid social situation has^::been simplified by the appiicatiort of 1. the ■criterion of naming ^i©. _:-_: .■■■;.■ groups eiigible for ST_:staUis anti by deciding, when in doubt, patrileneally. Thus, if a person,^ hksaJCashmirl laliier or-

^andTa Buddhist mother or-grandmother, everf if :hehas converted tp ]BiidcIh|soi,,: ;iie is denied ST status by virtae vf his baterrafd^sceiati ^v_; I '". ."

tt is not yet clear what benefits the STstatus will to |1^! Lsdakhi people ap the normal benefitsof reservation in edijfcatidrial ^: ittsStatioiis, government jobs, schqLarships, *md soon.-Andit remains to be ;S©eri ttow far reaching the effects of the new ₉ status; will be. It is true that more> Ladakhis will be able to enter the mainstream of natiotial life in tae fields ofeducation; and' employment and, therefore, have₄ a greater presence-and voice. The question, 6f course, is whether these benefits will be eqaally accessible to all sections of the population.

If ST stattts is given to alj inhabitants of Ladakh, it would go a k>ng way in creating an atmtisphere of goodwill, .This opinion was eudoi-sed by a responsible section of the older generation, in Leh. It was.felt ihat first; given Ladakh's batkwardriess vis-a-vis_:therest of India, some reservation policy for the whole area was necessary; second, given its vulnerable geo-pplitical ppsitipn, alienating sections of the population, howsoever ■advantageous in .the Machiavellian internal politics of the nation-state, would be c dunte'tprodu c ti ve.

The success of the new mi"tia,tivesiiiLehwilldepend ^^s

■BRIEFS



Corffergijee in



|f on a combination of . ....
economic and culEiral factors:
the influence of regions, sudfi as
Tibet, Central Asia and Kashmir
in its political and social history-
(in rhftlters of trade, pilgrimage !
and transhjimahce), which¹
rnjkes Ladakh amulticentred
^one; the existence of various
cultural groups — Shias,
: Sunnis, Buddhists (of various ■
order)jChristjians^:aridso en —■■,■■
speaking different dialects with
shifting allegiances and
cleavages; political interest at.
the local level and above, ₍

which often crisscross; and finally, the customary modes.oj Sife based on a political economy of which the Indian nation state is yet to .have full control. All these factors make Ladakh a_; centre of various centripetal and centrifugal forces, throwing up questions about ihe success of She proposed decentralisMpri experiment, *•

_W
ill the Himalayan • Research Builittn rise from the ashes? Refleeting perhaps the iegs^rpng of interest ^s in Himalayan-studies in North Arnericah uhwersfties, over recent^ years thtf journal 'has1 ost some ofiLs lustre^ Shuiited from, dn^ American university to another iri search of patronage, the » joyrrlal became less and less tegular. ' After

tenure at Cornell Universitywider editors Kathryn March and David Holmberg, the journal moved to Columbia University (editors: l^ieodore Riccardi, Bruce." "Owerts, Bill Fisber): hi 1991, -editorship was Jtakep over by Ter BDb'ngson and Linda Htis of the

Shiihng,Mt&jhpitedm the Roasts of peaee" I ' tnthestrife-hm

js to'host an ■■■ ■■■ ■,, .' .":" intepnationalxonfirpvce,

■i-UAM1994:,= = -

to'promote on ethnic
harmony, reports ■■■ - -.-. .~. ,_:
the &&

Tou are invited to consider ^mankind's defpest concerns^ r^ptelions and challenges, |nd ". to share exp#Hences of charge and hope in difficult situations," states the invitation letter that has been sent to feuding Serbs, .;Croat| ahdMtislirrisinBosnia,. .=■ ^;teBlacksandVWrrite>uiSoutii- -Ttfnca, Israelis,^Pftlestin?an^ " , Lebanese Ss WelT as peopk^:: _:: .. ¹ frornManipur. Invitatiohs have ■ also been sent to Asva-Paciftt? ^:

tlrii v ersi iy 6 f^: Washing ton kt

University¹ did not eome «p:-promised si^p^ri, and anly one ^ issue has bcen^: brought ovit so ihst issue is not

■ as ihe bulk of its. ..:

■:■■ A-decision was |akeh bverthe fall, at a,. meeting Of, the Nepal Stud bsAss ociawon 1

,are devoted toprinting toe entire I^MNepah' \ ; .

wrest the publication fro the University ojf Washington^aad:' it avei to the

University of jl^xas in Austin. ■■■■■ Barbara Brower, a geographer _; whO;has worked amorig'ths ^: Sherpas, was appointed_; the new editor; ■■ - ^:- - - -: -.. ■ . .

populations a

Jnpeace'V ^;- ■■■■ ■■■ .-- ■. ... .„ I "' ■:■■ ■■..■ Sfeiljtopg i$ said to have. been._v. ■ selected ses the. venue "sincb^;:it---^; "■■■ ... offers e'asy acces^btlity. to the... .. flashing -Nagas.-anid^KuJasin' BeigPjpyripg Manipur, as weil as the different tribes arid- ^:

wiio are up inarmsagaJntst thetf

., called Moral Rearmament,, and supported byJliS Ramalftishna Mission and various Cllfistian .orgaqrii$a(ions, the tliems of the conference is: "Learnjing to Jiye tog|tr^r—^vfrontieF ■.■, _v; ... 6f hope". Since foreign ^: ■ ■djil^gates will'need restricted

■:.■ sea pepnits to enter the Northeast, theu;#pplicatbiis"

c onference c 9 ofd that or

\.Ttid survival or demise.-ol . die HI^B In"We ^drnijig year will {ilso indicate &e siaiie..p£ Z 2. . Himalayiii'studies in North Aniericai bk the past, fevu-opeari schdlm were among,ihe main svippottCTs of HRft.^:Now,-they. ,■. have their piynpMicatioti,"the ^:

:. Research, and aiithtMT and reader
loyalties arefTaetur^. .Pgrtiaps a
partnftrshjp between the _::

Europeans 4np Nojtb AjBdricaiis |bpublish one, regular* professional ]oiuTiaI^: will be to everyone's good.^; New^.subsciriptipn details: Mima tayan«Re$earcfi Bulletin, 'Geography Department, !u^iiyersity^;of Austin,^ ; ■■■■■

^ 2, USA ; ;

Gver^as aJMnail.ackilf$j[5,"