evidence: The new Union Territory of Ladakh will need a unique approach so that it can manage its regional development while at the same time taking into account the sensitivities of its environment, customs and culture 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. [...] A curfew was imposed and only lifted in 1992 when the national and state governments agreed to set up the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council. Hill Development Councils were created in Leh and Kargil in 1995 and 2003, respectively, but the feeling of step-motherly treatment by the state government persisted until 5 August 2019, when Article 370 of the Indian Constitution was revoked by the Indian government, following which Ladakh was finally made a Union Territory.