Buddha's teachings being forgotten in Ladakh

FOR PEACE: Buddhist monk and model, Molam Gyatso (L) is trying to solve Ladakh's communal problem.

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Leh: The story of Buddhism in contemporary India is incomplete without a mention of Ladakh.

Ladakh was an ancient Himalayan kingdom and was cut off from the rest of world for centuries. But in the last few years it has seen rapid transformation. With change have come not just new opportunities but also new challenges that have redefined the role Buddhism plays in Ladakhi society.

Most of Ladakh's 1.5 lakh Buddhists live in Leh. The city has a small Muslim population while the other district in Ladakh, Kargil, Muslims are a majority.

But relations between the two communities have soured in recent years. One of Ladakh's most renowned historians, Abdul Ghani Sheik, says that as the city opens up to the world, its values are slipping.

"Many more people are traveling outside Ladakh and they bring ideas that do not fit in Ladakh. The other problem is money. More and more money is coming in and it's setting up people against each other. Some are more prosperous than others," Sheik says.

In the last few years Ladakh has seen many instances of violence. In 2006, Buddhist youths attacked and burnt Muslim homes in Leh, reportedly as revenge for attacks on Buddhist houses in Kargil. The scars of that event are still fresh.

Remains of burnt houses still remain even after two years of the riots. The families, which fled, have not returned since. Today the ghost houses are a symbol of the simmering tensions between the two communities that erupt every now and then.

Two years have passed since the riots, but tension still runs high in many villages. No political party has pressed for an inquiry into the violence.

"The government never brought out a report about what provoked this violence. Was it spontaneous or was it planned attack? And that's led to more suspicion," Shafi Lasu, lawyer for Muslim petitioners, says.

How was such violence committed by the followers of a religion based on non-violence?

To find out, CNN-IBN spoke to Lama Lobsang Angchuk, the leader of the influential Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA), which has been accused of inciting violence.

"The young people have a hot blood and they often do these things," Angchuk says.

Otsal Wangdus, a lawyer and the leader of the LBA's youth wing, is more open. He is the new, resurgent face of Buddhism in the region and ready to take up arms, he says, to defend himself.