Srinagar, May 23: In the heights of Ladakh, Buddhists and Muslims are locked in a silent war — over numbers.

The region has long been known as the land of the lamas, but the Buddhists now fear that their numbers are declining while the population of Muslims is increasing.

According to the 2001 census, Muslims make up 47.40 per cent of Ladakh’s 2.36 lakh people in its two districts of Leh and Kargil. Buddhists, at 45.90 per cent, aren’t far behind.

The numbers may appear to be close, but they hide the fact that the population of Muslims grew at a faster rate over a decade — 31.52 per cent against 29.97 per cent for Buddhists. Muslims are in majority in Kargil, Buddhists in Leh.

Buddhists blame their dwindling count on family planning and have sought the Centre’s help to reverse the trend.

“We have written to the Centre saying the Jammu and Kashmir government should stop its family planning programme here because it’s not feasible,” said Sonam Dawa Lonte, president of the Ladakh Buddhist Association, the group that spearheaded a campaign for an autonomous hill development council for Ladakh.

Lonte claims more Buddhists are adopting birth-control measures — something their religion forbids — than Muslims.

“Our population is less while the area is huge. Our religious heads now urge people to have more than two children.”

Leh Autonomous Hill Development Council chairman Tsering Dorgey is also a worried man. “Many monks in Ladakh stay single. Polyandry, where a woman marries several brothers, is also practised in some pockets of the region. As a result, our numbers have been falling. Wherever I go, I ask people to have more children,” he said.

Unlike Lonte, Dorgey doesn’t think family planning is a problem, but says the numbers must go up.

“Family planning is a personal matter. The government doesn’t compel anybody into it. At the same time, I don’t agree that the two- child norm is the essence of family planning. People here should have more than two children.”

Kargil Autonomous Hill Development Council chief Asgar Karbalai, who oversees the Muslim-dominated region, argues that Ladakh always had more Muslims. He says it is not true that the population of Buddhists is declining.

“You look at any census and you will find that the population of Muslims was higher. Ladakh has been projected as the land of the lamas, but the fact is that Muslims were always in a majority here,” Karbalai said.

He denies accusations that Muslims are averse to family planning. “These are merely allegations hurled against us by the Buddhists, but we are open to the measures.”

Not everyone in his community echoes Karbalai’s words, though. In Kargil’s Imam Khomeini Memorial Trust and Islamia School, followers are asked to have more children.

“We have been given a raw deal in development. I think we have to increase our numbers not only because we want our share in development but also because Islam forbids family planning,” a source said.