Ladakh had been demanding UT status for a long time
Delinking of Ladakh from Jammu and Kashmir and granting it the status of a Union Territory has been a long-standing demand of the people of the cold desert region, which shares borders with Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and China.
The people of Ladakh, comprising a mix of Buddhists and Shia Muslims, had been frowning over the fact that their destiny was connected to Kashmir and complaining that the region had to depend on the Valley-centred government of the state for finances for the development of the province.
The Rajya Sabha on Monday passed a bill providing for bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir state into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
