Probe violence against Buddhists in Ladakh: Congress MP

BJP MP Tarun Vijay Wednesday demanded a home ministry probe into last month's "assault" on Buddhists in Ladakh's Zanskar district and said residents were beaten up and hotels and shops damaged.

Tarun Vijay, who raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha, later said in a release that Zanskar was a sensitive border area that faced the brunt of the Chinese attack in 1962. He alleged that Jammu and Kashmir's Omar Abdullah government was discriminating against Buddhists and the people of the area, which led locals to demand a separate district of Zanskar.

He said the present district headquarters was about 200 km from Zanskar.

Tarun Vijay said Buddhists in Zanskar were subjected to "tyrannical assaults" July 21-31 and "some anti social communal elements beat them up".

He said anti-social elements ransacked houses of Buddhists and dragged out women, children and monks in some areas of Zanskar.

"Restaurants, hotels and shops were damaged and a huge prayer wheel has been irreparably damaged by the violent mob. When the Buddhists protested against this sacrilege, police resorted to lathi charge and fired on the peaceful demonstrators, injuring a Buddhist youth who has been evacuated to Kargil for treatment," he said.

The BJP MP said he supported the demand of Ladakh Buddhist Association for a high-level probe into the violence.

"The central government must intervene in the matter listen to the people immediately," he said.