evidence: The demand for Ladakh to be separated from Kashmir and granted Union Territory (UT) status in India is therefore as old as the history of Ladakh post-partition. Sensing the public mood early on, in 1979 the J&K government divided the region into two districts: Leh, which has a Buddhist majority, and Kargil, with a Muslim majority. This step was taken in order to divide the people along religious lines and also to swing the Muslim vote (especially in Kargil) to favour the Kashmiri politicians. [...] India has fought two major wars with Pakistan over the territory: along the Nubra front in 1971,2 and the Kargil War in 1999 in the Batalik and Drass sectors. India also engaged in a full-fledged war with China in 1962 along the Ladakh front, when the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) invaded Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh (then known as the North-East Frontier Agency) in a synchronised attack. [...] It is important to note, as already mentioned, that the earlier division of Ladakh into two districts along religious lines laid the foundation stone for the differences between these two districts. Their politicians have never been on the same page, whether concerning the election of an MP or the issue of UT status. On the contrary, the politicians in Kargil have demanded the creation of a greater Ladakh which would also include Baltistan, in the northern territory of Pakistan. And while true that the majority of Ladakhis are happy with the move to UT status, it has to be said that being given UT status without a legislature nonetheless raises concerns.