Just when one thought, ours was becoming a land of free music, eco-friendliness and a place capable of holding the Indian version of Woodstock, politics played a spoilsport.
The Ladakh Confluence, which was supposed to be held for its second consecutive year in Leh with due support from the Jammu and Kashmir tourism Ministry stands cancelled, days before it was supposed to take place from July 15-18. As the official page on the website declares, that the Confluence has run into opposition from the All Ladakh Tour Operators Association (ALTOA) and the Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA), with accusations of promotion of “drugs, western culture and rocking music”.
With thousands of tickets sold online and several leaves fought for and various travel plans crafted for the festival, the attendees are hugely disappointed by this turn of events. While most are miffed at the organisers for not being able to foresee this, others are cross about the status of refunds and some are even calling the entire festival, a ploy to extract money. As the Facebook page of the Confluence shows hundreds of unhappy commentators, there is no dearth of goodwill and positivism for people managing the show as well. As one commentator states, “Our support is with the organisers. No hurry for a refund. But some one please explain why would they oppose the event which ultimately is going to create business opportunities for them only? Just curious (sic).”
Hemant Chona who’s a student and musician, says that though he never made any reservations, one needs to be patient with refunds. “Organising a festival of this scale is difficult and since there were no sponsors, the money is said to have been used for artistes’ accommodation. If one wants to visit Ladkah, they can do so anyway, I was going solely for the experience and music, which can take place anywhere, though the valleys of Ladakh would have been ideal,” he says adding that he hopes the festival gets postponed to a different location.
Though an online petition demanding support against the Ministry has been generated and has close to a 1,000 signatures already, people are wondering what good can be achieved out of it. “Really disappointed as I have been doing nothing else, but planning for this trip since April... As regards refund, working for a non-profit myself, 3+3 = 6k (for 2 tickets) is not a small amount for me. Not sure how signing a petition can help me recover this loss,” reads another comment.
Abhinav Singh, a media professional says that thankfully their trip wasn’t etched around the Confluence and he and his friends hadn’t invested in the tickets either. “We had a plan of going to Manali and hiring bikes from there to visit Leh, which remains unaffected by the festival’s cancellation,” he says.