Kargil is not just a region where Pakistan and India fought a war of sorts, it is a scenic place in its own right
KARGIL — a sleepy little town — rose to prominence following a spate of high altitude bombings between India and Pakistan in May 1999. Without the Kargil conflict very few people in Delhi and Islamabad would have bothered to find out where this historic little town was located. Situated midway between Srinagar (204kms), Leh (234kms) and Skardu (173kms), the tiny Kargil town is the headquarters of the Kargil district in the Ladakh region, and is merely six kilometres away from the line of control in Baltistan.
“The first bomb fell on the hills up there,” Ahmed Wafa pointed to the hills across the river. “The second one also fell nearby, and then it kept coming closer to the town and finally the bombs started to land in the middle of the town and many got killed in the bazaar,” he added. “But it still took some time for the people to figure out what’s going on, and once they realized the gravity of the situation, the entire town — about 10,000 people, old and young, men and women — packed up and started moving towards Suru and other valleys with their cattle and personal belongings ... we stayed in hiding for months waiting for the border to calm down,” he finished.
It’s been five years since the conflict caught everyone’s attention, and the peaceful Kargil which houses a predominantly Muslim population, is still at a loss to understand why civilian population was indiscriminately bombed. “You Pakistanis are no good, you rained bombs on our villages,” complained Haji Murad, an old man of 75. Though my immediate response was that “we too were not receiving roses from the Indian army” but then I thought not to get even with the old man, and tried to pacify him saying that these things happen in love and war. Let us get along with life.
And our interaction with villagers in different valleys for the next three days made us realize that getting along has been a difficult job for those thousands of families divided by the line of control in 1948, and later on in 1971. According to a rough estimate, some 7,000 families in Kargil have not been able to meet their relatives in Baltistan, which is only a couple of hours drive away from the town.
One Habiba Khatoon’s husband was posted to Skardu’s Kharmang Valley when the line of control was drawn. Afterwards her husband, realizing that he might not be able to make it to the other side, sent her divorce papers. Habiba refused to accept the divorce, and instead opened a window from her house towards the road to Skardu and set there waiting for her husband to return, who never came. Last year, she passed away waiting for her husband at that window. There are hundreds of similar heart-breaking stories in Kargil.
Our visit was unbelievable. After 57 years a four-member civil society delegation from the Northern Areas was allowed to enter Kargil. Just too good to believe for the people of Kargil and Ladakh, hundreds of people gathered to greet us, started shaking hands and presented gifts and flowers wherever we stopped for even five minutes. Young boys and girls would come up and start inquiring about their relatives, uncles, aunts and cousins who they have never seen in their entire lives.
Many of them have now established contacts with their lost relatives through telephone or the Internet. Our presence there was seen as a good omen for the revival of lost relationships between Gilgit, Baltistan and Ladakh regions. Before partition, Skardu and Leh were capital towns of the Ladakh wizarat. Over the last several decades, people in Kargil have been appealing in vain for opening the Skardu-Kargil road, which will enable them to reunite with divided families.
Kargil district is spread across an area of about 15,000sq.kms. Agriculture is the major source of earning for the population of around 120,000 people. About 85 per cent of the population are Muslims. Islam was introduced to the original Buddhist population in the middle of the 16th century by missionaries from Kashmir and Central Asia. Historically, Kargil town was an important trade and transit centre for the explorers and traders due to its unique equidistant location from Srinagar, Leh and Skardu, all well-known trading outposts on the ancient trade routes.
It used to be a resting point for caravans carrying exotic merchandize on their way to and from China, Tibet, Yarkand, Kashmir and Baltistan. Today Kargil has taken to tourism, and many tourists visiting the exotic Leh and adventure tourists heading towards Zanskar take a rest in Kargil.
Other than its importance as a staging ground for military operations, Kargil has become a launching pad for undertaking adventure tourism and trips to the numerous beautiful valleys in Ladakh and Zanskar. Many visitors travelling between Srinagar and Leh also have an overnight break here before starting the second leg of their journey. The town itself and its suburban villages lie along a hill amidst a valley system formed by the confluence of the Suru river and its tributary, the Wakha-Chhu. Over the years, its terraced fields seem to have been turned into residential plots. However, there still lie patches of levelled slopes intensively cultivated to grow barely, wheat, peas and several other cereals, not to mention a variety of vegetables. Every household owns orchards of apricot, apple and mulberry, forming a rich oasis against the backdrop of grey and brownish mountains.
Kargil has also become an important place for trekking, mountaineering, camping, and river-rafting activities in the Ladakh region. It provides a springboard for exciting excursion trips to the Wakha-Mulbek valley, where lies the 9m-high rock sculpture of Maitreya, and to the beautiful Suru Valley and Drass. Kargil town also offers some interesting walks through suburban villages nestling along the rising hillsides of river valleys. The best among these is the walk towards Goma Kargil along a 2km-long winding road that passes through some of the most picturesque parts of the town, offering a good view of the terraced township tiered alongside a gushing river. A shorter walk across the bridge, over the Suru river, takes tourists through the ancient village of Poyen, and up the Wakha-Chhu Valley. A stroll in the bazaar might lead to the famous Tibet market and tuck shops being managed by women selling flint and tobacco pouches, hookahs and brass kettles. There are shops that sell pashmina shawls, local carpets, dry fruits and local handicrafts. Internet cafes are getting popular by the day. The Munshi Aziz Bhat Museum, situated only few metres from the Dak Banglow, is worth visiting. It contains rich artifacts, handicraft, utensils, coins and other antique items from the central Asian trading era. The museum is a private project, managed by the son of Munshi Aziz Bhat.
Present-day Kargil was not the natural capital of the region, or Purig as it was also known. Earlier, Purig consisted of a number of small but independent kingdoms, which included Chiktan, Phokhar, Sot and the Suru Valley. These tiny principalities would often fight among themselves over petty issues. Gasho “Thatha Khan”, an exiled prince in the 9th century AD, is perhaps the first ruler who brought together all the territories under a united administration.
Another sultan of Purig extended his kingdom to include Zanskar Pashkum and Sodh, pretty much the territory of the present Kargil district. He is referred to as “the Purig Sultan”. His capital was based at Karpokhar in the Suru Valley. The other famous kings of Kargil were Boti Khan, Abdal Khan, Amrood Choo, Tsering Malik, Kunchok Sherab Stan and Thi Sultan.
It is said that it was the period of Ali Sher Khan Anchan, the famous ruler of Skardu, in the late 16th and early 17th centuries which had a great influence on the area. This prince from Baltistan conquered most of the principalities of Purig and introduced Balti culture in the Kargil district. Subsequently, it was the Dogras who united Baltistan, Purig, Zanskar and present-day Leh district in the first half of the 19th century under a single administrative unit, which lasted till 1947 when a new line of control was demarcated between India and Pakistan dividing Skardu and Kargil.
Fifty-seven years later, with the opening of Muzafarabad and Srinagar bus service, the poor and peaceful people of Kargil are optimistic that they too will soon be able to travel on the road between Skardu and Kargil. From what we gathered during our brief stay in Kargil it is clear that 57 years of separation has only served to deepen the desire for a reunion among thousands of innocent divided families in Kargil and Baltistan.
KARGIL — a sleepy little town — rose to prominence following a spate of high altitude bombings between India and Pakistan in May 1999. Without the Kargil conflict very few people in Delhi and Islamabad would have bothered to find out where this historic little town was located. Situated midway between Srinagar (204kms), Leh (234kms) and Skardu (173kms), the tiny Kargil town is the headquarters of the Kargil district in the Ladakh region, and is merely six kilometres away from the line of control in Baltistan.
One Habiba Khatoon’s husband was posted to Skardu’s Kharmang Valley when the line of control was drawn. Afterwards her husband, realizing that he might not be able to make it to the other side, sent her divorce papers. Habiba refused to accept the divorce, and instead opened a window from her house towards the road to Skardu and set there waiting for her husband to return, who never came. Last year, she passed away waiting for her husband at that window. There are hundreds of similar heart-breaking stories in Kargil.
Other than its importance as a staging ground for military operations, Kargil has become a launching pad for undertaking adventure tourism and trips to the numerous beautiful valleys in Ladakh and Zanskar. Many visitors travelling between Srinagar and Leh also have an overnight break here before starting the second leg of their journey. The town itself and its suburban villages lie along a hill amidst a valley system formed by the confluence of the Suru river and its tributary, the Wakha-Chhu. Over the years, its terraced fields seem to have been turned into residential plots. However, there still lie patches of levelled slopes intensively cultivated to grow barely, wheat, peas and several other cereals, not to mention a variety of vegetables. Every household owns orchards of apricot, apple and mulberry, forming a rich oasis against the backdrop of grey and brownish mountains.
