On the 13th of the month of January, a piece of news passed through my eyes, that said the mechanical department has for the first time reopened the road that joins the Zanskar subdivision to the rest of the Ladakh region. The Turkey-made furious TV series Erturul Ghazi, which I was watching for the last two weeks instilled the courage to dare something extraordinary. The amalgam of the two things energised my head to nod for yes to the offer from the office to visit Zanskar to report the first-ever Zanskar Winter Sports and Youth Festival 2021.

A part of this credit – not all – to open the road in the winter season owing to the mechanical department. It seems, there are many other factors that caused the opening of the road that passes through the high Penzila Pass. It again seems that the local lives matter less than arrangements for VIP visits. This opening of the road preceded few days before the visit of the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh and Minister of State Kiren Rijiju to Zanskar for the opening ceremony of the above-said festival. Another factor is the fewer snowfall this winter that eased the mechanical department to clean the white blockade from the road. But in recent past years, we witnessed fewer snowfall but not witnessed the opening of the road. Yes, the “local lives matter less”. The pro-UT section sees this opening as a development of the new political setup. 

Quechua Shoe, feather jacket, laptop, gloves, muffler, sunglasses, sleeping bag, blanket, woolen socks, barley flour, dry apricot, maggi, a flask full of tea were all on my checklist to pack. We embarked on the journey at midnight, four hours before dawn. Two hours later we reached the police check post at Suru. “Vehicles are allowed only after 9:00 AM”, informed the in charge from a window that he slightly opened to avoid cold. A man in his fifties was kind enough to leave his hotbed to accommodate us at his house for few hours that followed by breakfast.

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The morning view at Suru was wonderful; white mountains, white earth, white roads that paving way for only one vehicle at one time. Steam evaporating from water bodies, fog spread through the river path. People in the village had still not come out from houses. Few were waiting for the bus to Kargil town. The police lifted up the kanta; our vehicle passed on from below.

The car chased; Taisuru, Panikhar, Tangole, Parkachik, Shephard Nala, and Rangdum. After all, the car crawled up at the Penzila top. As discussed in an article by Er. Nazir Ahmad, the Nun glacier at Parkachik, and Drung Drung Glacier at Panzila Pass have almost finished to the ground. One of our companions who had visited Zanskar two decades before said that the glacier has receded by almost equal to a four-storied building.

We, lamenting on the receding glaciers, our vehicle chased few more villages, Jhaljung, Akshow, Chibra, Abran, Khushul, Hamiling, Skyagham. Stop! Here a Police post noted entry of our vehicle and a medical team tested us for COVID. Alhamdulillah, all were “Negative”. The four wheels again counted; Remala, Manda, Phey, Dokhang, Sani, and finally Padum, the main town of Zanskar. The connotation behind the name Zanskar is “Zans” means copper and “Kar” means white. In earlier times people would collect white copper from the river in Zanskar.

In all the villages houses were comparatively small with white paint, red borders on doors, windows, roofs. They had bushes on the roof to cremate corpses that have straw above to protect from snow and rainfall. Some houses had Tarshoq (a string of small holy flags) on the roof. Children below were carrying bow and arrow. Yak and cows were roaming on the roadside; no fear of vehicles.

Day after reaching Zanskar we had to travel towards Chadar Trek. On moving 3-4 kms towards Chadar from Padum, we saw a steep decrease in snowfall, just like in Leh. There were around 5-6 inches of snow where Zanskar town had around two feet.

On the 75 km long way, I came to know from the co-passengers that the Buddhist community has two major sects differentiated by colour of their gown. Those with Red gown are followers of his Holiness the Drugpa Rinpoche; they are in minority in Zanskar and the Yellow are called Gyalukpa who are in majority. The Red is further divided into three sub-sects, Drugpa, Nyngama, and Saky. The monasteries in Karsha, Stongday, Monay, Phugtal, and Rangdum are associated with the Gyalukpa and Bardam, Stagzimo and Zunkhrul monasteries is that of followers of Drugpa.

Another fact that I found interesting about the Buddhist faith in Zanskar was the Lha Rgyal Rinpoche. The MoS Kiren Rijiju visited Youlsum Khasar village where a Rinpoche has taken rebirth. The young La Rgyal Rinpoche who has said to take rebirth here was passed away in Arunachal Pradesh in his previous life.

In this discussion, the narrator – not a Muslim by religion – feels pride in saying that the Muslims are also divided into three sects. According to him few persons or households have embraced Wahabi Islam who prohibit their traditional song, dance, music, Surna, and Daman. The two religions had bitterness in their relations due to the communal conflict in 2012 that followed a social boycott of the Muslim community. As a result of the boycott, the market which was earlier concentrated in the Muslim area has shifted to the non-Muslim area, depriving the Muslims of the royalty that they got from their property. Like the Argon community in Leh, the Muslims in Zanskar also trace their origin to Kashmir. The renowned Ladakh Rgyapo Jamyang Namgyal had appointed two Muslims, one named Razaq Ju, as his Governor in Zanskar who later emerged as a small community. However, later some Muslim businessman also joined them to make a larger community that makes one-third of the total population of current Zanskar.

With all these discussions we chased many villages. Zangla village is comparatively warm that also produces apricot. Other villages were Pishu, Pidmo, etc. Hinamul village has only one family which has now extended to 3-4 households. The family is known for Tantrism. At the same place, water also falls from the ebb. It is said that milk would spoil if mixed with this water to make tea. After traveling some distance, we saw another narrow that leads towards Jingchan village of Leh and Ralakung of Zanskar.

After all, we received the Member of Parliament from Ladakh Jamyang Tsering Namgyal who came from Leh via Chadar. He was the central figure in this whole sports and cultural event. Not a single speech ended without taking his name. His name reverberated in songs and equally, he himself made space in hearts. On his arrival at Chadar trek, he chanted “Bharat Mata ki Jai” and “Long Live Bharatiya Janata Party”; just like a BJP’s political rally. His eloquence and wit while addressing the gathering has no par in Zanskar. Cracking jokes during his speech makes them interesting for the public just like a standing comedian. But! It seems, he never misses a chance to solidify the issue for political gains. Occasionally he made some statements hinting at Zanskar that potentially distance it from its district headquarter Kargil.

After the grant of UT status, the government has paid much attention to Zanskar. People are hopeful of development, economic prosperity, and a boost in Tourism. The high intensity snowfall has the potential to attract tourists in winter as well and athletes for winter sports. But again, as I discussed in one of my previous articles where Kargil has been urged to learn lesson from Leh over Ladakhi Dry Toilets. Zanskar also has to learn lessons from Leh. Almost all household in Zanskar has no water pipeline or any other continuous uninterrupted source of water. They walk with snow ski for half or one mile away every day to fetch water for daily use. Then how Zanskar with scarcity of water could survive an influx of tourists? The frequent answer I got from locals is groundwater. But again, in Leh after a heavy influx of tourists for a decade after the shooting of “3 Idiots” has depleted the groundwater. It is not recovering due to fewer snow and rainfall. So, how much the groundwater would stand with Zanskar.

In a recent major development, Zanskar has connected to the rest of the world by mobile connectivity by Reliance Jio. It also has rapidly incurred a significant impact on the life of the people. A newly developed teenage friend told that the mobile internet connectivity has attracted youth at home who earlier engaged in snow skiing. In addition, three routes from Padum to Kargil, Padum to Leh, and Padum to Himachal have connected Zanskar to the world. However, the Padum-Leh road that passed alongside the Chadar Trek has not developed yet. The stakeholders in Leh may not want this route to develop in a proper road, fearing the loss of the essence of the Chadar Trek that attracts a huge tourist every winter.

A major concern in Zanskar is some of the Government employees who manage to escape from duty in Zanskar mostly in Winter solstice. The people of Zanskar are hopeful to get a separate district status before ending this term of the BJP government. A rumour had gone high that the Government is going to announce District Status for Zanskar on this Republic Day. Anyhow, a separate district Status may help them in shaping policies considering their topography and demography.