The administration of Ladakh on Tuesday removed the mandatory requirement of knowledge of Urdu for recruitment into various government jobs in the Union Territory. The official notification issued by the government made ‘Bachelor’s degree from any recognized university’ the mandatory requirement instead of ‘Knowledge of Urdu along with Bachelor’s degree ’ for the several posts in the revenue department.
According to existing rules, graduation with knowledge of Urdu is mandatory for recruitment into various govt posts, including Naib Tehsildar, Giridawar Qanoongo, Patwari etc. But as per changed rules, only graduation will be enough for these posts, and knowledge of Urdu will not be required.
BJP MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal expressed happiness over the decision taken by the Modi-led government and said that this is one of the important changes in Ladakh’s administrative system after the abrogation of Article 370. “Now Urdu is no more compulsory language for the recruitment in Ladakh Revenue Department. True freedom from psychological colonialism of #Art370 as well as liberation from the imposed Urdu language by Kashmiri rulers over Ladakh”, he tweeted.
Gratitude to #ModiSarkar for this much required reformative steps in administrative system of Ladakh.
— Jamyang Tsering Namgyal (@jtnladakh) January 11, 2022
Thanks @lg_ladakh and Administration of UT Ladakh.
Correspondence details… pic.twitter.com/C8Ei8TzALP
BJP MP from Ladakh Jamyang Tsering Namgyal had written to Home Minister Amit Shah last year demanding the removal of Urdu as the mandatory language for the government jobs in the Union Territory. “Urdu is alien language for the people of Ladakh and was brutally imposed on the people of Ladakh by the then rulers of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir”, he had said in the letter dated January 23, 2021.
Namgyal yesterday shared a video on Twitter to thank PM Modi and MHA Amit Shah for this transformative decision. “Usage of Urdu in Ladakh was discriminatory. No tribe, no community in Ladakh follows Urdu and its nobody’s mother tongue. Not even the Muslims here speak Urdu”, he said. The total population of Ladakh is around 3 lacs of which 46 per cent follow Islam and the rest either follow Buddhism or Hinduism.
He further added that it was important for the Ladakh Revenue Department to function on a common language platform and ensure uniformity and friendly approach towards people.
Meanwhile, the Jammu Kashmir National Conference Kargil has today strongly condemned the order issued by the Revenue Department saying that the administration had shown a different and biased approach towards the Urdu language.
Haji Haneefa Jan, the President of JKNC Kargil said that the UT Administration was openly attacking Urdu with different means and is trying to deprive the unemployed youth from employment. He also criticized Namgyal for terming Urdu as an alien language. “We think that the MP Ladakh should avoid to play hate politics in the region and respect the languages and the people who speak Urdu. We can’t tolerate such an unfortunate move from the government,” Haneefa Jan added.
