Click to play videoLeh: 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.
"Buddhism never says, go for violence. But when you always pinch, we have to break our practices," Wangdus says.
Religion still means a lot for many young men, but many warn of the dangers of reducing religion to rhetoric.
"It's a paradox, on one side there is a lot of talk about Buddhism. Lot of people are talking about it in public forums. But the essential practices and places associated with Buddhism in Ladakh are dying," Martijn Van Beek, a Buddhist scholar, says.
But even as young Buddhists struggle to reconcile their religious identity with the realities of today's Ladakh there are some who have made their peace with the world around them. We met one such young man who has broken every stereotype that exists about Buddhism and Buddhist monks
Molam Gyatso is a Buddhist monk and a model. He is the face that has sold soft drinks. These days they call him the pyaas bujhao lama (quench your thirst lama).
Gyatso became the face of an ad campaign purely by chance. And now he wants to put his newfound fame to good use and try to resolve the communal problem in Ladakh.
"All problems like the Buddhist and the Muslim divide can be filled through communication. I don't want older politicians to come. I want Buddhists and Muslims to talk to each other more directly," Gyatso says.
Gyatso spent 14 years of his life in a monastery in the Himalayas. But he has already found a way to connect with the world around him.
"Yes, they say this is not good, but when I tell them how this technology can be used to preserve things and to spread the message across the world, they don't mind," he explains.
And he clearly is not the kind of monk who'd sell his Ferrari.
"I will love to buy a Ferrari.. just kidding," he says with a hearty laugh.
Gyatso is today a role model for both Buddhist and Muslim youth in Ladakh. In some ways, though, he's just doing what the Buddha once did. Communicating the virtues of non-violence and co-operation.
And Gyatso is a true Buddha's warrior, fighting a battle for peace.
Tenzin Tsundue in Dharamshala, Priya Pal in Bodh Gaya, Molam Gyatso in Ladakh - they've brought a new energy and dynamism to their age-old faith.
But unlike many others, these young warriors have not taken the path of violence to win the battles they're fighting.
Perhaps they know that the challenges to their faith come not just from outside. They come from within.
(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)
More on IBNLive Right Now
TOP NEWS
MOST SHARED
PHOTOGALLERY
