On April 4, three labourers were killed and one injured when an unattended landmine went off in Rajouri district. The tragic incident came as a grim reminder of a harsh reality that thousands of acres of land in Jammu and Kashmir continues to remain infested with mines.
Areas along the India-Pakistan border in Jammu and Kashmir are perhaps the most heavily mined in the world. These mines have been part of war strategy and have been used by both India and Pakistan for a long time. But with the outbreak of an armed rebellion in Indian Kashmir, India set up a very large number of mines along the Line of Control to counter infiltration from across the border.
The Rajouri incident provides an insight into the long forgotten adversity that has come with the conflict. There are scores of young boys and girls who have fallen victim to this menace. Many have lost their limbs and are not in a position to lead a normal life.
In the recent times, the biggest exercise of mining along the international border and the LoC was taken up by India in the aftermath of the attack on its parliament in December 2001. An unprecedented build up along the borders known as “Operation Prakaram” included mining as an important counter offensive against Pakistan. And this was not limited to Jammu and Kashmir only, but other border states of Rajasthan and Punjab as well. Between December 2001 and July 2012, the Indian Army deployed an estimated two million mines along the northern and western border with Pakistan.
The anti-personnel mines and anti-vehicles mines were laid on cultivable land, which directly affected more than 6,000 families in 21 villages, says a report by Landmines Monitor.
According to unofficial estimates, around 16,000 acres of land in Jammu region and 173,000 acres in Kashmir are covered by these remnants of a battle that never took place. About 150,000 families had to be displaced from their villages in Jammu before India and Pakistan committed to peace in 2004. Indian military authorities continue to insist that a vast portion had been de-mined and people have returned to their villages. The Indian Engineer-in-Chief’s staff directorate reported in 2009 that “all mines laid during Operation Parakaram were recovered/cleared (99.32 percent) by 2006.” It stated that the very few stretches where de-mining was not possible “due to terrain conditions” were fenced in accordance with UN protocols. Media reports suggested in February 2010 that the Indian Army had transferred to farmers more than 360,170 square miles of land along the Pakistan border near Akhnoor, 35km north of Jammu, after two months of clearance operations.
But the casualties indicate that these areas continue to be threatened with mining. Switzerland based Landmine Monitor, in its report based on field visits to Jammu and Kashmir, stated that mines continue to pose a threat to civilians residing close to the border areas, near the Line of Control, and that causalities continue to occur while people are performing livelihood activities such as collecting firewood, shepherding and farming.
As per the latest report published by Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor, a total of 3,143 casualties (1,074 killed and 2,068 injured) had been reported by the end of 2012. A total of 78 causalities from mines, improvised explosive devices and other Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) were reported in 2012, much higher than the 51 reported in 2011.
According to an April 2005 report of the Lok Sabha Standing Committee on Defence, the Indian Army suffered 1,776 casualties while laying and removing its minefields on the border between December 2001 and April 2005.
The total number of civilian casualties remains unknown. However, an Indian NGO survey in 2004 reported at least 1,295 civilian casualties from Operation Parakaram mines (The Hindu, March 19).
The biggest hurdle in a solution to this problem is India’s reluctance in signing the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT). In November 2012, India reiterated its long-held position that “we support the approach enshrined in Amended Protocol II of the [Convention on Conventional Weapons] which addresses the legitimate defense requirements of states with long borders. However, we are fully committed to the eventual elimination of anti-personnel landmines.”
It was in 1996 that India voted in favour of a UN General Assembly resolution urging states to vigorously pursue an international agreement banning anti-personnel mines. But in 1997, when the Mine Ban Treaty came into existence, India chose to remain outside of it, even though this significant contemporary disarmament measure has saved thousands of lives. Eighty percent of governments in the world have joined the treaty and the UN Secretary General has acknowledged it as a ‘near universal’ convention.
India did join an Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on Conventional Weapons, a limited disarmament measure on anti-personnel landmines. The protocol does prohibit the use of undetectable mines but does not comprehensively ban the weapon.
Since these mine fields continue to pose a threat, a mechanism needs to be in place to clear these areas so that the civilian population whose livelihood depends on their movement in the fields can live peacefully. Until India agrees to sign the treaty, the hapless population will continue to live in perpetual danger. Landmines do not discriminate between civilians and soldiers. The victims of the April 4 incident had come from Bihar looking for livelihood.
Shujaat Bukhari is a veteran journalist based in Srinagar, and the editor-in-chief of Rising Kashmir
Areas along the India-Pakistan border in Jammu and Kashmir are perhaps the most heavily mined in the world. These mines have been part of war strategy and have been used by both India and Pakistan for a long time. But with the outbreak of an armed rebellion in Indian Kashmir, India set up a very large number of mines along the Line of Control to counter infiltration from across the border.
The Rajouri incident provides an insight into the long forgotten adversity that has come with the conflict. There are scores of young boys and girls who have fallen victim to this menace. Many have lost their limbs and are not in a position to lead a normal life.
In the recent times, the biggest exercise of mining along the international border and the LoC was taken up by India in the aftermath of the attack on its parliament in December 2001. An unprecedented build up along the borders known as “Operation Prakaram” included mining as an important counter offensive against Pakistan. And this was not limited to Jammu and Kashmir only, but other border states of Rajasthan and Punjab as well. Between December 2001 and July 2012, the Indian Army deployed an estimated two million mines along the northern and western border with Pakistan.
The anti-personnel mines and anti-vehicles mines were laid on cultivable land, which directly affected more than 6,000 families in 21 villages, says a report by Landmines Monitor.
Indian Army deployed an estimated two million mines along the border with Pakistan
According to unofficial estimates, around 16,000 acres of land in Jammu region and 173,000 acres in Kashmir are covered by these remnants of a battle that never took place. About 150,000 families had to be displaced from their villages in Jammu before India and Pakistan committed to peace in 2004. Indian military authorities continue to insist that a vast portion had been de-mined and people have returned to their villages. The Indian Engineer-in-Chief’s staff directorate reported in 2009 that “all mines laid during Operation Parakaram were recovered/cleared (99.32 percent) by 2006.” It stated that the very few stretches where de-mining was not possible “due to terrain conditions” were fenced in accordance with UN protocols. Media reports suggested in February 2010 that the Indian Army had transferred to farmers more than 360,170 square miles of land along the Pakistan border near Akhnoor, 35km north of Jammu, after two months of clearance operations.
But the casualties indicate that these areas continue to be threatened with mining. Switzerland based Landmine Monitor, in its report based on field visits to Jammu and Kashmir, stated that mines continue to pose a threat to civilians residing close to the border areas, near the Line of Control, and that causalities continue to occur while people are performing livelihood activities such as collecting firewood, shepherding and farming.
As per the latest report published by Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor, a total of 3,143 casualties (1,074 killed and 2,068 injured) had been reported by the end of 2012. A total of 78 causalities from mines, improvised explosive devices and other Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) were reported in 2012, much higher than the 51 reported in 2011.
According to an April 2005 report of the Lok Sabha Standing Committee on Defence, the Indian Army suffered 1,776 casualties while laying and removing its minefields on the border between December 2001 and April 2005.
The total number of civilian casualties remains unknown. However, an Indian NGO survey in 2004 reported at least 1,295 civilian casualties from Operation Parakaram mines (The Hindu, March 19).
The biggest hurdle in a solution to this problem is India’s reluctance in signing the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT). In November 2012, India reiterated its long-held position that “we support the approach enshrined in Amended Protocol II of the [Convention on Conventional Weapons] which addresses the legitimate defense requirements of states with long borders. However, we are fully committed to the eventual elimination of anti-personnel landmines.”
It was in 1996 that India voted in favour of a UN General Assembly resolution urging states to vigorously pursue an international agreement banning anti-personnel mines. But in 1997, when the Mine Ban Treaty came into existence, India chose to remain outside of it, even though this significant contemporary disarmament measure has saved thousands of lives. Eighty percent of governments in the world have joined the treaty and the UN Secretary General has acknowledged it as a ‘near universal’ convention.
India did join an Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on Conventional Weapons, a limited disarmament measure on anti-personnel landmines. The protocol does prohibit the use of undetectable mines but does not comprehensively ban the weapon.
Since these mine fields continue to pose a threat, a mechanism needs to be in place to clear these areas so that the civilian population whose livelihood depends on their movement in the fields can live peacefully. Until India agrees to sign the treaty, the hapless population will continue to live in perpetual danger. Landmines do not discriminate between civilians and soldiers. The victims of the April 4 incident had come from Bihar looking for livelihood.
Shujaat Bukhari is a veteran journalist based in Srinagar, and the editor-in-chief of Rising Kashmir